From the Burnham row to the China visit, avoiding hard choices is the Starmer doctrine | Rafael Behr

Whether at home or abroad, the pattern of ducking difficult arguments and calling it pragmatism is the same

There comes a point in a prime minister’s career when foreign travel offers respite from domestic trouble. Even when relations with the host country are tricky, as Britain’s are with China, the dignifying protocols of statecraft make a beleaguered politician feel valued.

Next comes the phase where missions overseas feel dangerous because plotters can organise more openly against absent leaders.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist