Jet-setting Keir Starmer’s trips around the world cost UK taxpayer £4m | Politics | News
New figures show Sir Keir Starmer’s globetrotting has cost taxpayers millions since he became No 10. The Labor government is spending more on foreign trips, with the Prime Minister’s 39 foreign visits since July 2024 costing more than £4 million.
The Labor leader’s frequent trips abroad have seen Tories dubbing him ‘Never Here Keir’, while some in the background are said to be disappointed with the regularity of his overseas visits. Improving relations with other countries has been one of Sir Keir’s foreign policy priorities since taking office; The Brexit ‘reset’ with the EU and a new trade deal with China were two obvious examples of this. Sir Keir’s most expensive quarter in terms of travel came at the end of 2025, with eight trips costing up to £1.2 million.
The most expensive was his three-day visit to the COP climate conference in Brazil with 29 officials; this amounted to £413,000. Guard reported.
A trade trip to India on a 45-personnel commercial aircraft cost £340,000, while a trip to the G20 in Johannesburg, South Africa, on a 30-personnel RAF jet cost £367,000.
The figures were revealed in the Government’s latest transparency publication.
Sir Keir is spending more on foreign trips than his predecessors Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson, but much of Mr Johnson’s premiership has been marked by international travel bans due to the pandemic.
But the Guardian reports that Sir Tony Blair, David Cameron and Theresa traveled abroad as much, if not more, than Sir Keir during his first two years in Number 10.
A Government spokesman said: “All Prime Minister travel takes into account security requirements and value to taxpayers and is central to rebuilding Britain’s global influence and keeping people safe through stronger alliances.
“These trips have helped secure billions of dollars in investment and tens of thousands of jobs for the UK, while strengthening our security, protecting British interests abroad and delivering real benefits to people at home.”
