Keir Starmer faces further questions about this competency after a new report concluded his recent trip to China was a busted flush.

As the Prime Minister attempts to contain the fallout from Peter Mandelson’s past relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, new research has cast fresh doubts over his much-hailed trade deals with Beijing.

Sir Keir has found himself in the firing line over his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US after fresh revelations about the latter’s relationship with Epstein emerged.

And as the PM’s political future appears to hang by a thread, hopes that his trip to Beijing could have provided a much-needed PR win may now have been dashed.

Upon returning to Britain, Sir Keir wrote in his Substack blog that over the course of the visit, he “welcomed £2.2billion in export deals, around £2.3 billion in market access wins over five years, and hundreds of millions worth of new investments”.

Sceptical about these trade wins, think tank Facts4EU and Stand for Our Sovereignty (SOS) crunched the numbers and found that they do not hold much weight.

As the report shows, China’s large trade surplus with Britain dwarfs any gains from these trade deals.

In a previous report, The People’s Channel showed how the cumulative surplus in goods trade, which Sir Keir has built with China since being elected, is over £75billion, excluding the effects of inflation.

The latest deep-dive further undermines these vaunted trade deals.

In his Substack piece, the Prime Minister claims “a win is a five-year forecast of the export value as part of the deal”.

However, as the report’s authors point out, no business can forecast export sales five years in advance. Yet this is how the PM is presenting the results of his China visit.

“Not on export sales at all, but on some wishful thinking they might materialise in the first place, and then a “guestimate” of what they might total over a five-year period,” the authors write, adding: “There isn’t any business in the country that would count these ‘deals’ in their official sets of accounts.”

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The asymmetry between imports and exports also renders these trade deals trivial, the report says, with China flooding the British market with goods.

The report also skewers the list of export deals the PM reeled off during his visit.

“Glasgow Prestwick Airport has announced £76million in exports from expanded direct cargo services to China” – On September 1 last year, the airport revealed it was opening new services to China to cater for exports of Scottish salmon. The value of these salmon exports totalled £76 million, suggesting this was not a new deal.

“World Snooker has announced a £15million five-year agreement, including a new major event in two Chinese cities” – World Snooker is already well-established in China, across six venues, and is a very popular sport. The current World Champion is Chinese.

“Cultech has announced a new partnership with China Resources, expected to deliver up to £90million in exports over five years and create 55 jobs in Port Talbot” – The report suggests this appears to be a distribution agreement, but there are no details on the company’s website and “expected to” is not the same as firm orders.

“Gallant has announced the launch of Outwall in China, serving British touring artists, projected to generate over £10million in revenue over five years” – Already established well before the PM’s visit, Outwall is a joint venture with the Chinese company Showstart, which mostly deals with merchandising, all of which appears to have to be made in China. This Chinese company Showstart handle all the sales, including ticket sales.

“Birmingham Biotech has announced plans to scale its biobarrier platform in China, securing £20million in projected UK exports” – these are “projected exports”.

“Silverstream Technologies, a UK-based leader in ship air lubrication technology, has collaborated with 13 major Chinese shipyards and partners, supported the installation of our Silverstream Systems on both newbuilds and retrofits, and achieved export revenue in excess of £50m in 2025” – A success story, but seemingly not one of Sir Keir’s making.

To quote the company itself: “We have been growing our relationships in the country ever since Silverstream’s establishment in 2010. Some 15 years on, with 150 ships installed with the Silverstream System and an orderbook of another 100 vessels, we are pleased to have strong leadership on the ground in China to support our customers.”

They were not announcing new orders, as the last ones were received in December.

“Anemoi Marine Technologies – a UK based engineering R&D company – has announced £2million in export value through the installation of its Flettner Rotor Sails” – Anemoi has been working in China since its pilot installation in 2018, and subsequently established its Chinese entity, ANEMOI Marine Technologies (Changzhou) Co., Ltd, in 2021.

“Brompton Bikes has announced £111.5million in projected export sales in China over three years” – Brompton Bikes already has a store in Beijing and appears well-established. The £111.5m mentioned above is once again “projected sales”, and it’s over three years.

The report slammed: “The PM came away from China with almost nothing, claiming even fewer exports than the Chancellor on her unsuccessful trip.

“Our top politicians need to understand they are presiding over a £3,000 billion economy, so it takes deals worth billions to create a favourable change.

“Sir Keir Starmer needs to learn how to negotiate strongly in a tough world. He usually asks what the foreign country or EU wants, gives it to them, and comes home empty-handed.

“Please, Prime Minister, stand up for us, instead of giving way to them.”

When approached for comment, a spokesman for No10 referred the People’s Channel to this press release.

Reviewing his visit, the Prime Minister said: “We are bringing stability, clarity and a long-term strategy to how we engage with China, so we can bring home the benefits for businesses and for working people.

“Engaging with China, is how we secure growth for British businesses, support good jobs at home, and protect our national security.”

Business & Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said: “We will leave China having put our relationship with one of the world’s biggest economies on a stronger footing, unlocking billions for the UK, and setting the course for new commercial partnerships.

“This shows that consistent and clear-eyed engagement is the right approach proving the UK doesn’t need to choose between our trade partners.”

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