Explainer: Does it matter if Rishi Sunak goes to the UN?
Rishi Sunak, after becoming embroiled in a fight over new oil and gas licences for North Sea exploration, is now reported to be considering skipping the UN General Assembly of world leaders next month.
It would make him the first prime minister in a decade not to attend. Even Liz Truss found time to attend in her brief stint as prime minister.
The decision to allow further oil and gas in the UK put him at odds with the general secretary of the UN, Antonio Guterres, who described countries that are “increasing the production of fossil fuels” as “dangerous radicals”.
Sunak was forced to defend himself, saying that despite the new licenses, Britain was committed to reducing its emissions “over time”.
Last year, Sunak tried to bail on the Cop27 summit in Egypt, but eventually U-turned after widespread criticism.
His plans for the UN meeting, while not yet confirmed, would be to focus on preparing for Conservative Party conference in October, and would likely be spun by No10 as him “focusing on the domestic economy”.
It is part of a concerted effort to make Sunak look like he understands the concerns of voters ahead of a general election likely to be at the end of next year.
Whether or not Sunak attends the UN summit is not a vote decider, but it does signal a wider policy of more insular politics, less concerned with Boris Johnson’s obsession with “Global Britain” and more worried about domestic issues.
Most voters are understandably concerned with issues on home shores, but many of these are tied to global concerns. Inflation, for example, has roots in the war in Ukraine, international energy markets, and supply chains which span across the world. The same of course is true for migration, another policy on Sunak’s hit list, and putting on a show of diplomacy with other UN members such as France and Germany, would certainly not hurt our efforts to stop people crossing across the Channel.