Britain and China aim to revive a "golden era" business dialogue when Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes a planned Beijing visit next week, said three sources familiar with the initiative, with top executives from both sides expected to participate.

The first challenge to build the embassy at the former Royal Mint site came in 2022 when a local council rejected permission to move forward with the plan.  China has been pursuing its ambition to build its largest diplomatic outposts in the UK relentlessly since 2018 after acquiring the site for about £250 million ($318 million).

Having initially condoned it, President Trump has now woken up to the fact that Sir Keir Starmer ’s plan to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is an “act of great stupidity”. Clearly piqued at Starmer’s opposition to his own Greenland claim, Trump is now not willing to indulge the bad-value deal.

Following the concessions on inheritance tax thresholds for farmers just before Christmas, this is the second major U-turn within a month, and the 13th since Starmer came into office. Here are some of the other major rowbacks since the 2024 election.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Monday for calm discussion to avert a possible trade war with the United States over Greenland, appealing to President Donald Trump to respect alliances such as NATO rather than undermine them.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to NATO in a press conference on Monday, after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the UK and other European nations if he couldn’t reach a deal to buy Greenland from the Kingdom of Denmark.

It was an "extraordinary inconsistent ramble… even by his standards" said Sky's US correspondent Mark Stone, following the US president's surprise White House news conference on Tuesday.