UK Labor Party leader Starmer criticizes PM’s absence in Davos, touts new ‘reverse OPEC’ coalition

Opposition UK Labor Party leader Keir Starmer on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for choosing not to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

On a CNBC-censored panel in Davos, Starmer said he has been meeting with business leaders and policymakers to push the idea of ​​a Clean Energy Coalition if Labor wins the race. next general election in 2024.

The international body, which Starmer describes as the “reverse OPEC,” will seek to address the common economic challenges of climate change, job creation with renewables and household energy costs.

“I think our prime minister should have appeared — I was completely present. One of the things that has struck me since I’ve been here is the absence of the UK,” Starmer told the panel. .

“That’s why I think it’s really important that I’m here and our Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves here, as a statement of intent if there’s a change of government, and I hope Hopefully, the UK will play its part”. entering the global stage in a way that I think perhaps hasn’t been possible in recent years.”

Sunak is not the only world leader to skip the summit, with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and new Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also absent.

UK Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps was in the Swiss Alps in Sunak’s absence, and told CNBC on Thursday it was appropriate for him to attend, given his role in government is to ensure Business investment and jobs for the UK

“[Sunak] another year could come, but right now in the midst of the energy crisis caused by Ukraine being invaded by Putin, with all the trauma we’ve been through with Covid and many other things, he is focusing on family — as a brand, by the way, the new prime minister, two or three months from now — about domestic priorities,” Shapps said.

“I’m here because really, if you will, I’m really the right person to be in Davos.”

Sunak spent Thursday visiting Morecambe in the northwest of England as part of a series of trips to promote his government’s “level up” funding.

‘Opec inverse’

Labor is leading a major poll against Sunak’s ruling Conservative Party ahead of the next general election scheduled for 2024. The latest Ipsos Vote Intent poll is released this week. gave Labor a 26-point lead with 49% of the vote compared with 23% for the Conservatives.

Starmer swears that in the event Labor takes power in Westminster in 2024, his government will work with the UK private sector, where renewable energy contracts are estimated to be 9 times cheaper than oil and gasto unlock job opportunities and innovation.

“The payoff here is huge in terms of energy security and it’s not something national. Energy security is in all of our interests, ensuring that Putin cannot weaponize energy. around the world is for our benefit, the world, whether now or at any time in the future,” Starmer said.

“There is of course an element that each country is trying to overcome this challenge on its own, but there is also an element of mutual cooperation in this regard to the common threats we are facing. , and that’s why I’m so keen to develop this idea of ​​the Clean Power Alliance, which is an OPEC inverse in the sense that the aim is to lower prices globally.”

OPEC, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is a permanent intergovernmental coalition of 13 major oil-producing countries that negotiate their respective output adjustments to maintain the stability of global oil prices. .