Keir Starmer started 2026 aiming to focus the public’s attention on his government’s efforts to tackle the UK’s sky-high cost of living.
Then our closest ally kidnapped the leader of Venezuela. And followed that up with threats to take control of Greenland – a territory of Nato ally Denmark – by force.
As a result, attention has been hoovered up by international issues and the risk of a collapse in the current world order… understandably.
In his Downing Street speech this morning, the Prime Minister spent plenty of time explaining the rationale behind his diplomatic approach of ‘calm discussion between allies’.
But after all the chat about global drama, you might not have noticed the subtle shift he made towards his topic of the year.
‘In today’s world, geopolitics is not something that happens somewhere else,’ Starmer told the press conference.
‘It shapes the cost of energy, the price of food, the security of jobs, and the stability that families rely on to plan their lives.’
The message was clear: we can use all the domestic measures we like to combat the cost-of-living crisis, but in a world where the US plans to dump 10% tariffs on us because of our stance on Greenland, it pays to look at the bigger picture.
I wanted to dig a little more into this idea, so I asked the PM how he can tell people the cost of living will improve when the health of our economy depends so heavily on an increasingly unstable world.
His answer shed some light on why the man sometimes pejoratively dubbed ‘Never Here Keir’ is so keen on globetrotting.
He told me: ‘The impact of what’s happening internationally on what’s happening domestically is obvious, it’s real, it’s probably more direct now than it’s been at any time most of us can remember.
‘And therefore it would be a dereliction of duty on the cost of living not to be active on the international stage.’
Starmer’s argument is that global forces are dictating the situation back home to a degree not seen in decades, so the UK must be there to try to push them in a favourable direction.
After all, it’s not just the Greenland tariff threats that might have an impact – there’s the US takeover of Venezuelan oil fields; the crisis in the Middle East and uncertainty in Iran; Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine; and the threat of cyber attacks by international enemies.
![Ousted President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela [and his wife, Cilia Flores] arrive at the Wall Street Heliport in the New York City borough of Manhattan, NY, to be transported to appear in a New York court. Photo by Kyle Mazza-CNP/Shutterstock](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/SEI_279746160-4b62.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
But looking at today’s focus specifically, it’s still unclear exactly where the UK could find any room for compromise to stop those devastating tariffs coming into effect.
Starmer says only Greenland and Denmark can decide the future of the island. Denmark says the ‘conquering’ of Greenland by the US is ‘completely unacceptable’. And Trump says he won’t accept anything less than total control of the territory.
Time is running out – the President wants the tariffs to come into effect on February 1. It’s apparent that, less than three weeks into the year, the PM’s wide-lens approach to the cost of living faces its biggest test yet.
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