Article #30879

Without a reckoning about the epic strategic error of leaving the EU, there is no serious debate about the country’s future place in the world

While the Labour party was in meltdown last week, Donald Trump was visiting China. By the time Wes Streeting had sent his resignation letter to Keir Starmer, the US president had completed a two-hour bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and moved on to sightseeing.

The events unfolded in parallel, but in the competition for media and Westminster attention the superpower summit couldn’t rival manoeuvres against the prime minister. That is normal. A domestic crisis will always bump foreign events off the news agenda.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist