Starmer looks ahead to first meeting with Biden

The Labour leader was speaking as more than 300 new MPs continued to be sworn in at Westminster, ready for the state opening of parliament next week, when the government’s programme is laid out in the King’s Speech.

There were also questions for Sir Keir about whether he believed age restrictions the government plans to introduce in the House of Lords, forcing peers to retire at the age of 80, should be applied across the board.

The size and role of the House of Lords have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, with 784 sitting members, and Sir Keir has previously suggesting an alternative, elected second chamber based on models elsewhere in the world.

This would affect Labour peers such as figures like Labour’s Lord Alf Dubs, who came to the UK as a child fleeing the Nazis and has long campaigned on refugee rights, and is 91-years-old.

Sir Keir said: “We’ve got 800-plus members of the House of Lords – it’s simply too big. 

“We need to reduce it, so it doesn’t reflect on how other elected representatives are chosen in other countries, it’s to do with the size of the House of Lords.”