A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News. Delivered to your inbox on Fridays.
Leading the week
Keir Starmer will be hoping to turn attention away from the Labour Party’s recent dramas and on to his priorities for government when he hosts a major investment summit in London on Monday (October 14). The summit comes after the unveiling of Labour’s new employment rights bill (and the timely appointment of a new minister for investment), and will mark an attempt by the party to tout its pro-business credentials after a less than enthusiastic response in some quarters to its plans to improve workers’ rights, all with one eye on the prime minister’s mission to deliver higher living standards by boosting growth.
With the backing of big UK banks and an impressive roster of attendees, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt who joins Starmer for an opening discussion, the summit is an opportunity for the government to garner some positive headlines: a few post-summit announcements on investments from big-name firms will be a welcome antidote to the cycle of bad news in recent weeks. And the blow of missing out on some of Elon Musk’s on-stage antics will reportedly be softened by the presence of former England manager and quarter-zip icon Gareth Southgate, who could also offer some tips on how to achieve longevity in the toughest job in the country.
The long-awaited inquiry into the Novichok poisoning death of Dawn Sturgess opens on Monday (October 14) in Salisbury. Sturgess, 44, came into contact with the poison after mistaking it for a bottle of perfume in June 2018. The first week of the inquiry hears from Sturgess’ family, as well as members of the emergency response team who treated her in Amesbury. Previous hearings have described ‘astonishing observations’ that will be heard during the inquiry, with its broadcast being delayed by 15 minutes in case anyone accidentally compromises national security.
Two people who will not be appearing at the inquiry, though, are Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. The pair were targeted in a Novichok poisoning months earlier, when the nerve agent was smeared on their door handle in what is widely believed to be a Russian assassination attempt, but both survived. Though Sturgess’ death is believed to be linked to the attack on the Skripals, inquiry chair Lord Hughes ruled that there was an ‘overwhelming risk’ of a second attack on the family if the Skripals or their location could be identified. Evidence related to the Skripals’ poisoning is scheduled to be heard later this month.
King Charles undertakes his most significant trip since beginning treatment for cancer when he travels to Australia on Friday (October 18) for a tour that runs through to October 23 and is followed by a State Visit to Samoa and a first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as monarch. The King is reportedly due to pause his treatment for the duration of the visit, which begins in Canberra with a welcome from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Parliament House and features a busy schedule of solo engagements and high-profile joint events with Queen Camilla.
Highlights for the trip include a wreath laying at the Australian War Memorial, a visit to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial and a review of Royal Australian Navy in Sydney Harbour. The King will also get to engage with issues close to his heart with climate and sustainability-related visits, but the most significant part of the trip may be a meeting with Australian cancer experts Professor Georgina Long and Professor Richard Scolyer to hear about the pair’s work on melanoma treatment.
Looking abroad
David Lammy has spent the first months of his tenure as Foreign Secretary putting in an impressive amount of shoe-leather diplomacy, with trips to the United States and European capitals taking place in between travel to conflict hotspots in Ukraine and the Middle East. But Lammy’s most difficult visit yet could come during next week’s planned jaunt to China, which will be closely watched for indications of how the new Labour government plans to handle its relationship with Xi Jinping and the Chinese leadership.
In opposition Lammy held strong views about Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and there will be many in Parliament – not least those MPs who remain sanctioned by the Chinese government – who will be keen to see the foreign secretary maintain a tough approach during his visit. A July meeting with top diplomat Wang Yi produced only a tepid call for stability and closer communication, meaning Lammy is under pressure to raise the thornier issues (human rights, the release of British citizen Jimmy Lai, and ties with Russia and Iran, to name a few) in his latest diplomatic expedition.
Before heading to Beijing, Lammy will be in Luxembourg on Monday (October 14) to join EU foreign ministers as part of the latest step in resetting UK-EU relations. The conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are both on the agenda as the wars look set to once again dominate the international news agenda next week. Ukraine’s new foreign minister Andrii Sybiha will also take part in the meeting, though in his case his participation will be virtual. On Wednesday (October 16), the first-ever EU-Gulf Cooperation Council summit will be held in Brussels, which will see leaders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE join European counterparts for talks likely to be overshadowed by Israeli military action in the Middle East, including its anticipated response to Iran’s decision to fire a barrage of missiles over Israel on October 1. A two-day EU summit then follows on Thursday and Friday (October 17-18).
New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will oversee his first ministerial meeting of alliance counterparts when defence ministers travel to Brussels on Thursday and Friday (October 17-18) joined, for the first time, by ministers from South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The gathering will likely also include a meeting of the US-chaired Ukraine Contact Group after the leaders’ summit planned for this weekend was cancelled when US President Joe Biden opted to stay home to deal with Hurricane Milton.
Defence Secretary John Healey is then scheduled to head to Naples where, on Saturday (October 19), Italy is hosting the first-ever G7 defence ministers’ meeting, where the agenda – you guessed it – includes the situation in the Middle East and conflict in Ukraine. On Sunday (October 20), Healey is set to participate in a trilateral session with his Italian and Japanese counterparts, Guido Crosetto and Gen Nakatani.