Katy Balls Katy Balls

Sunak, Starmer and the Davos divide

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issue 21 January 2023

What self-respecting political leader would be seen in Davos? The World Economic Forum has become synonymous with sybaritic technocracy – champagne receptions, luxury chalets, £50 burgers and traffic jams of black limousines. David Cameron and George Osborne were in their element at these summits, sometimes staying to ski afterwards. But Rishi Sunak, a Goldman Sachs alumnus, has decided not to go this year, no doubt worried that his attendance would reinforce stereotypes he’s trying to dispel.

Sir Keir Starmer has no such inhibitions. He’s making his debut as a Davos Man this week, alongside Rachel Reeves, his shadow chancellor. He will attempt to look like a prime-minister-in-waiting on a panel with Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, about ‘repowering the world’. Reeves will continue her quest to restore Labour’s reputation for fiscal discipline in a discussion on the question ‘Is the world in a debt spiral?’. ‘It’s ironic given the legacy of former Labour governments,’ snipes a government aide.

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