Keir Starmer has urged the need for “strength and clarity” amid increasingly global turmoil as he touched down in Japan.
The Prime Minister was speaking in Tokyo alongside his Japanese counterpart, Sanae Takaichi.
“My visit here today comes at a time when geopolitical, economic and technological shocks are literally shaking the world,” Sir Keir began.
“That matters deeply to the British people, because these international events increasingly come crashing into our daily lives.”
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“When war overseas drives up fuel prices at home, it’s families that feel it first; when supply chains fracture, it’s small businesses and working people who absorb the shock; and when instability rises, it’s the vulnerable who are the most exposed.
“So, our response together must be one of strength and clarity, deepening our resilience, our powers and our alliances to better serve our people.
“The prime minister and I share this perspective, and that’s why I’m here today,” Sir Keir said before a Union Jack and a Japanese flag.
He celebrated the relationship between Britain and Tokyo as the “strongest now that it has been in decades”.
'My visit here today comes at a time when geopolitical, economic and technological shocks are literally shaking the world,' Sir Keir began
|GB NEWS
However, he outlined his desire to see the Anglo-Japanese partnership go “even further”.
“The UK-Japan partnership is of profound and growing importance as G7 and G20 partners and the two biggest economies in the CPTTP.
“It’s a partnership that is strategic and collaborative, historic yet future-looking, based on trust and shared interest, and I believe that we have to go even further.”
Stressing that the two countries “share a firm commitment to economic growth” and to “global stability and security”, Sir Keir said: “I believe firmly that Euro-Atlantic security and Indo-Pacific security are indivisible”.
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Sir celebrated the relationship between Britain and Tokyo as the 'strongest now that it has been in decades'
|GETTY
Sir Keir also appeared to invite Japan’s prime minister for a visit to the United Kingdom later this year.
Towards the end of his address, he said: “I look forward to our dinner in a moment, and to the meeting that I hope we will have in Chequers.
“We share vital interests and principles, but more than that we share an ambition for this partnership which can deliver real benefits for both nations.
“I look forward to driving that forward together. I look forward, as I say, to welcoming you to Chequers later this year. Thank you very much.”
Sir Keir also appeared to invite Japan’s prime minister for a visit to the United Kingdom later this year
|GETTY
When the meeting takes place, there is an outside possibility Ms Takaichi may no longer be Japan’s prime minister as she prepares to fight a snap general election on February 8.
Arriving in Japan earlier today, the Prime Minister said: “It’s a really important visit. We’re close allies, G7 and G20 members together. Outside of Europe and the US, Japan is the biggest investor in our economy, and 1,000 Japanese businesses are supporting, I think, 150,000 jobs in the UK. So, there’s a lot for us to discuss.
“Obviously, the prime minister (of Japan) was very quick to join the coalition of the willing, the work we’re doing, and is a very strong supporter of what we’re doing with the coalition of the willing.
“So, defence and security, we’re going to have discussions about that as well as trade and the economy,” he promised.
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