{"id":128741,"date":"2026-07-04T17:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T12:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=128741"},"modified":"2026-07-04T17:58:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T12:58:46","slug":"outgoing-uk-pm-starmer-says-successor-cannot-spend-less-time-on-foreign-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/","title":{"rendered":"Outgoing UK PM Starmer says successor cannot spend less time on foreign affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web desk(National Times)- Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said whoever succeeds him would have to devote as much time to international crises and diplomacy as he did, rejecting suggestions Britain\u2019s next leader could focus more heavily on domestic issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starmer, who&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2009971\">announced<\/a>&nbsp;last month that he would step down after two years in office, said in a&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q2OOFJJ5L6g\"><em>BBC<\/em>&nbsp;interview<\/a>&nbsp;on Friday that foreign and domestic policy could not be separated as Britain faced an increasingly volatile world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s often this discussion \u2014what\u2019s the right balance between dealing with international affairs and dealing with domestic affairs? They\u2019re one and the same thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked whether a prime minister could spend less time on diplomacy than he had, Starmer replied: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think it is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starmer has faced criticism from some opponents over the amount of time he has spent on foreign policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmaker Andy Burnham, widely&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/uk\/uk-labours-andy-burnham-wins-election-clears-path-challenge-pm-starmer-2026-06-19\/\">expected<\/a>&nbsp;to replace Starmer, has promised to focus on domestic priorities including living standards, housing, infrastructure and devolving more power to Britain\u2019s regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a video titled \u201cWith Keir\u201d and posted on X on Saturday, Starmer defended the international focus of his premiership, saying Britain had restored its global standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He cited support for Ukraine and participation in international coalitions among his key achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe fact that now other countries look to us for that leadership is something I\u2019m really proud of having delivered in the two years we\u2019ve had in government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starmer also pointed to stabilising the economy, reducing child poverty and improving the National Health Service among his key accomplishments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk(National Times)- Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said whoever succeeds him would have to devote as much time to international crises and diplomacy as he did, rejecting suggestions Britain\u2019s next leader could focus more heavily on domestic issues. Starmer, who&nbsp;announced&nbsp;last month that he would step down after two years in office, said in a&nbsp;BBC&nbsp;interview&nbsp;on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Outgoing UK PM Starmer says successor cannot spend less time on foreign affairs - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Outgoing UK PM Starmer says successor cannot spend less time on foreign affairs - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said whoever succeeds him would have to devote as much time to international crises and diplomacy as he did, rejecting suggestions Britain\u2019s next leader could focus more heavily on domestic issues. Starmer, who&nbsp;announced&nbsp;last month that he would step down after two years in office, said in a&nbsp;BBC&nbsp;interview&nbsp;on [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-04T12:58:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-04T12:58:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-22-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/\",\"name\":\"Outgoing UK PM Starmer says successor cannot spend less time on foreign affairs - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-22-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T12:58:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-04T12:58:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-22-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-22-1.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Outgoing UK PM Starmer says successor cannot spend less time on foreign affairs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Outgoing UK PM Starmer says successor cannot spend less time on foreign affairs - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Outgoing UK PM Starmer says successor cannot spend less time on foreign affairs - Nation","og_description":"Web desk(National Times)- Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said whoever succeeds him would have to devote as much time to international crises and diplomacy as he did, rejecting suggestions Britain\u2019s next leader could focus more heavily on domestic issues. Starmer, who&nbsp;announced&nbsp;last month that he would step down after two years in office, said in a&nbsp;BBC&nbsp;interview&nbsp;on [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-07-04T12:58:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-04T12:58:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-22-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/","name":"Outgoing UK PM Starmer says successor cannot spend less time on foreign affairs - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-22-1.png","datePublished":"2026-07-04T12:58:44+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-04T12:58:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-22-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-22-1.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128741\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Outgoing UK PM Starmer says successor cannot spend less time on foreign affairs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128741"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128743,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128741\/revisions\/128743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}