I was on Keir Starmer’s flight to Samoa when huge row hit PM | Politics | News

Journalists gearing up to accompany Sir Keir Starmer on an epic 27-hour journey across the world had one burning question for the Prime Minister – and it had absolutely nothing to do with politics.

The pack of two dozen journalists were desperate to know how the keyholder to No10 Downing Street planned to keep himself entertained during the journey from London to Samoa – via Winnipeg in Canada, then Oakland in California followed by Honolulu in Hawaii.

We all had our own strategies for survival. One colleague downloaded the Married at First Sight series to binge watch while others came armed with a trusty book.

Me? Well, I had grand plans to make a start on the Colour Purple by Alice Walker but I did no such thing.

The plane – with its Union Jack tail – took off from a London airport on Tuesday evening with journalists on board having our first encounter with a rather dressed down PM soon after takeoff.

We surrounded the trainer-clad leader in the aisle of the plane for the customary “huddle” – where we hurled a barrage of questions at the PM.

Unfortunately though, I have no photos to include as a camera-shy Keir wasn’t up for the (also customary) photo of the airborne proceeding.

He confirmed his first order of business aboard the UK’s version of Air Force One included watching Arsenal versus Shakhtar Donetsk on a big screen towards the nose of the aircraft.

But Sir Keir took a breather from watching his beloved Arsenal, who went on to win 1-0, to join us at the opposite side of the plane for the grilling.

The PM likely delved into his red box with the looming Budget just days away. Box sets though? Not on his agenda.

If he thought he was in for a smooth ride, he was wrong. And I’m not just talking about the turbulence.

Sir Keir was barely halfway through the marathon flight when he was enveloped in a diplomatic row with the United States that threatened to derail No10’s plans for the upcoming days.

That’s because the Labour Party was formally accused by Donald Trump’s campaign of breaking US electoral law through “blatant foreign interference” in the presidential election.

A colleague on board joked that journalists were at risk of being embroiled in our own scandal after being handed compression socks by the Downing Street team.

More gifts were in store for us when Sir Keir waltzed down the narrow aisle of the plane on what I suspect might have been Wednesday morning (but who really knew at this point) carrying Halloween-themed doughnuts, courtesy of none other than Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Was this a trick or a treat? We journalists weren’t too sure until it was confirmed that the sugary delights were indeed sent to our jet while we re-fuelled in Winnipeg a few hours earlier by Sir Keir’s Canadian counterpart. Talk about soft power!

We later worked those off by doing star jacks on the tarmac at Honolulu Airport a few hours later.

But I’m happy to confirm the never-ending flight did in fact make its final landing in Apia, Samoa’s capital, on Thursday – but not before crossing the international date line!

We’re all a little more crumpled than when we began.

But Sir Keir had his football, we had our compression socks, and thanks to Trudeau, we even had some doughnut diplomacy.

It might not have been the smoothest ride – both in the skies and diplomatically – but we made it onto Samoa’s sun-soaked soil.

Now, time to fight off the creeping jet lag and bring you the latest from the Commonwealth summit.

The return trip? Well, that’s a worry for another day.