At the Farnborough International Airshow this week knots of advisers and armed police surrounded Keir Starmer as he walked among the stalls, occasionally allowing a favoured executive or nervous apprentice into the inner circle.
A few words with the prime minister will always be valuable to heads of big business. But at this year's version of the biennial aviation and weapons show, defence companies in particular were hanging on the words of the first Labour prime minister since 2010 for any hint of his intentions.
Labour was out in force at the airshow; a record number of cabinet ministers were attending.
Starmer told executives that some of their "fingerprints" were on the party's plan for economic growth.
Yet beyond the warm words the new government has a host of questions to answer on what the future of UK defence policy looks like and whether more of the billions it plans to spend on weapons can be used to spur the goal of boosting economic growth.
Defence chiefs hope those answers come quickly. Labour is carrying out a strategic defence review, due to be completed in the first half of 2025, in which all large industrial contracts will be closely scrutinised, a party source says.
The review could consider how best to maintain an effective UK military capability and boost manufacturing employment.
However, the defence sector presents ethical dilemmas, most obviously now with the growing calls for a ban on UK arms exports to Israel, amid the huge number of civilian deaths in Gaza.
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin July 27, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Guardian dergisinin July 27, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Workers' rights Reform plans 'backed by senior managers'
Labour's plans to boost workers' rights have widespread support from senior managers, a survey suggests, as the TUC hits back at corporate lobbying against the proposals.
Starmer: We will tackle people smuggling gangs in same way we dealt with rioters
Keir Starmer has vowed to break up people-smuggling gangs in the same manner used to apprehend and jail hundreds of rioters this summer.
Gustafsson quits as CEO of Darktrace after sale
Poppy Gustafsson, the co-founder and chief executive of the British cybersecurity firm Darktrace, is to leave the company after its $5.3bn (£4.2bn) sale to the US private equity business Thoma Bravo.
Owner of Ivy 'close to deal' to sell chain to private equity
Richard Caring and fellow shareholders are reportedly close to selling the Ivy chain of restaurants for £1bn to a little-known private equity group.
'Like a boiling pot' - How the maelstrom under Greenland's glaciers may help slow sea level rise
There are stadium-sized blocks of ice crashing from the soaring face of the Kangerlussuup glacier in western Greenland, fierce underwater currents of meltwater shooting out from its base and visibility below the surface is virtually zero owing to a torrent of suspended mud and sand. It's little wonder scientists have never explored this maelstrom.
The state of the race - Why North Carolina shows how tight the US election really is
The narrow geographical focus of the US presidential election is becoming sharply apparent, with the first ballots to determine the next occupant of the White House starting to be mailed out to voters.
Amsterdam's pot crackdown: pavement gardeners bemused over city's new rules
Residents have reacted with bemusement at plans by authorities in Amsterdam to crack down on what it sees as a plague of messy plant pots.
US-Turkish woman, 26, shot dead at West Bank protest
A US-Turkish dual national has been shot dead reportedly by Israeli troops while participating in a protest against settler expansion in the occupied West Bank.
Poltava Military faces questions over toll in strike on 'elite' facility
Polina Melnyk and Ihor Tkachov were having breakfast on Tuesday when they heard the whistle of a missile fly low over their Poltava apartment block and, moments later, the sound of two explosions.
Abandoned sports centre may become first national skate park
An abandoned sports centre that escaped demolition after being turned into a backup Covid morgue could get a new role as Britain's first national skateboarding park.
