Starmer can help shape the future of the world at Cop30. He can’t let fear of Farage stop him | Michael Jacobs

The battle inside No 10 about whether the PM should attend an absolutely crucial climate summit in Brazil is ludicrous. He must assert himself - and go

No sooner has Keir Starmer reshuffled his cabinet, pronounced on Reform's racist policies and made his party conference speech, than another key decision comes hurtling towards him. But this one concerns the future of the world. The issue is whether the prime minister attends the UN climate summit in Brazil next month.

You may think this would not require too much thought. Two years ago, Starmer attacked Rishi Sunak for not going to a much less significant climate meeting and said that, were he prime minister, he would definitely attend.

Michael Jacobs is professor of political economy at the University of Sheffield and a visiting senior fellow at the thinktank ODI Global