A Labour minister destroyed a Tory frontbencher by reminding him about his party’s previous attempts to cosy up to Chinese president Xi Jinping.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp had accused Keir Starmer of being “sycophantic” when he met Xi at the G20 in Brazil last month.
Starmer is the first PM in six years to hold face-to-face talks with the Chinese leader as the government attempts to improve relations with the communist state.
In the Commons today, MPs debated the controversy surrounding a Chinese businessman with links to Prince Andrew who has been accused of spying for Beijing.
Yang Tengbo has denied the allegations and insisted he “loves” Britain.
Philp said: “Given what we’ve learned and what we know, these very close relations which the prime minister is apparently attempting may not be wise.
“And the rather sycophantic tone that the prime minister took with President Xi at the G20 a few weeks ago may not be very wise in light of what we now know.”
But security minister Dan Jarvis hit back: “In terms of the approach to China, I don’t agree with his characterisation of the prime minister’s recent meeting, and I would just say very gently to him at least he didn’t take him to the pub for a pint.”
That was a reference to the time former Tory PM David Cameron went for a drink with President Xi at a pub near Chequers in 2015.
That came as the then government claimed the UK and China were on the verge of a “golden era” of relations.
Starmer today said the government was “concerned about the challenge that China poses”.
But he insisted that the spying row would not prevent him from working with China in the future.
He said: “Our approach is one of engagement, of co-operating where we need to co-operate, particularly on issues like climate change, to challenge where we must and where we should, particularly on issues like human rights and to compete when it comes to trade.
“That’s the strategic approach that we have set out as a UK government.”
