Keir Starmer dodges questions about Biden's age
Sir Keir Starmer dodged questions about whether Joe Biden is too old to continue last night, as he prepared for his first face-to-face talks with the US President. President Biden has invited the new Prime Minister for private talks at the White House this evening just days after he secured his landslide victory.
The PM and his wife Victoria will then attend a lavish White House dinner for NATO leaders. Speaking to reporters en route to Washington last night, Sir Keir said talks were likely to focus on the unique defense and security partnership between the countries.
But he ducked questions about the President's age, amid a huge row in the US about whether the 81-year-old is fit to stand for a second term against Donald Trump in November.
Labour 's manifesto pledged to force members of the House of Lords to retire at the age of 80. But the PM insisted this did not imply politicians elsewhere should stand down at the age of 80.
'In terms of the age in the House of Lords, the simple fact is that our House of Lords is massive,' he said. 'It's the second biggest political chamber in the world. I think it's only the Chinese who have a bigger political chamber than our House of Lords, we have to reduce it.
'That is the primary driver of the retirement at 80. You can see why that needs to be done. We've got 800-plus members of the House of Lords, it's simply too big. We need to reduce it. 'So it doesn't reflect on how other elected representatives are chosen in other countries, it's to do with the size of the House of Lords.'
President Biden is facing calls from some Democrats to step aside following a disastrous TV debate with Donald Trump in which he repeatedly appeared to lose his train of thought. He has vowed to fight on. But commentators have said his performance at this week's NATO summit could decide whether leading Democrats decide to oust him.
Asked about his goals for today's meeting, the PM said: 'I've already had a phone call with President Biden. I want to follow up on that, this a very special relationship we have between the UK and the US.
'We have, within that, a special aspect when it comes to defense and security for obvious reasons including our commitment to Nato. 'We make a unique contribution in Europe to Nato and therefore it's a very good opportunity for me to talk to the President about how we take forward the important work at this summit.'
