Keir Starmer defends trip to South Africa for G20 summit as budget looms

Keir Starmer has defended his decision to travel to South Africa for the G20 summit days before the budget and despite the planned absence of Donald Trump. The prime minister will arrive in South Africa on Friday morning for two days of summit discussions and bilateral talks on topics including sustainability and economic growth. But with his chancellor putting the final touches on a potentially controversial budget and Trump having said he has decided to stay away, No 10 insisted on Thursday that the prime minister’s latest foreign trip would be good value for British taxpayers. On the way to…