Sir Keir Starmer confirmed ‘green-shoots of energy and management’

Sir Keir Starmer showed ‘green-shoots of strength and leadership’ when meeting the ‘fragile’ Joe Biden at the NATO summit, a body language expert says.

Sir Keir met the president at the Oval Office last night and denied the president was ‘senile’, insisting the 81-year-old had been on ‘really good form’ and ‘mentally agile’ during their hour-long chat.

But MailOnline expert Judi James said Mr Biden’s mannerisms during the encounter at the White House and at the NATO roundtable in Washington on Thursday showed he was ‘clearly now beyond power-jousting’.

However, Ms James felt the British Prime Minister‘s greeting handshake with Mr Biden implied ‘not just an increasingly close relationship between the two men’ but also that the Labour leader was the one ‘calling the shots’.

She pointed out three of Sir Keir’s cues – his raised elbow, the leaning in towards Biden and the intense eye contact – as demonstrating the PM’s power and superior status over the US commander-in-chief.

Ms James said: ‘Biden’s fragility means he now lacks the swiftness and deftness of movement to take control of the body language rituals of power and superior status in the kind of pecking-order game-play world leaders engage in at summits like this.

‘Alpha players like Clinton, Trump and Biden himself (in his prime) would use power-pats, power-shakes and a whole range of tactile and gestural rituals to silently signal dominance over other leaders at world events but Biden is clearly now beyond that kind of power-jousting.

‘He is in many ways an open target now and Starmer seems to be taking full advantage of his lack of agility here.

‘The PM’s handshake looks like a display gesture, performed in what looks like a bid to show not just the famously ‘special’ relationship between the two countries but to give himself a little personal power fillip at the same time.

‘This is clearly a defining appearance for Starmer as his first appearance as PM on the world stage and these rituals with Biden cover him in a fine mist of power-by-association.

‘Biden is increasingly showing signs of sparking signals of concern from other world leaders when they meet but he is still the one to suck up to in terms of global clout.

‘Starmer’s greeting handshake with the US president has three key cues to imply not just an increasingly close relationship between the two men but to also suggest some green-shoot hints of personal strength and leadership power for Starmer himself.’

Discussing the three cues of the pair’s handshake, Ms James added: ‘The raised elbow allows Starmer to not only shake from an elevated position but to ensure the handshake is visible rather than tucked behind the desk.

‘His hand digs down into the clasp, suggesting confidence and energy and making the back of his hand covers Biden’s, suggesting it’s Starmer who is instigating the ritual and therefore calling the shots here.

‘The leaning in towards Biden as he shakes creates a proximity that suggests a sense of intimacy between the two men, making them look like friends.

‘And Starmer uses some intense eye contact as he preforms his greeting ritual. Eye contact like this at a busy event will suggest collusion and rapport.

‘For Biden though this looks like less of an important ritual. He keeps his torso facing front and just extends his arm for the clasp, rather than turning and leaning in to mirror Starmer. His eye expression looks more wary than friendly here and it’s a side-eye eye contact rather than a direct gaze.’

Mr Biden described the UK as the ‘transatlantic knot’ binding the two continents, backing Sir Keir’s Brexit renegotiation by suggesting Britain should be ‘closer to Europe’.

At one point Mr Biden, who is facing questions over whether he is too old to stand for another term, slowly extended his hand towards Sir Keir. But he had to prompt the premier to take it – saying ‘gimme your hand pal’.

Sir Keir told reporters earlier that Labour ‘s manifesto plan to force members of the House of Lords to retire at 80 did not imply other octogenarian politicians such as Mr Biden should quit.

Asked by the BBC if Mr Biden was ‘senile’, Sir Keir replied: ‘No, we had a really good bilateral yesterday, we were billed for 45 minutes, we went on for the best part of an hour, we went through a huge number of issues. At pace – he was actually on really good form.’

Pressed whether the president was ‘mentally agile’, the PM replied: ‘A bsolutely across all the detail.

‘We were going at pace through a number of issues, which was really important to me, because obviously, it was my first opportunity to have a bilateral like that.

‘And he showed incredible leadership.’

Sir Keir was asked whether it was ‘unfair’ that long-term supporters such as Hollywood star George Clooney were suggesting Mr Biden is ‘not up to it’.

‘Well, I’m giving you my readout of the meeting… as I say, we’ve covered a lot of ground strategic ground international stuff, and not just Ukraine.

‘He was on good form. And, of course, you know, various interventions yesterday, we went straight from that, to the dinner that he hosted.’

At the start of their meeting, Mr Biden said: ‘I kind of see you guys as the knot tying the transatlantic alliance together, the closer you are with Europe. We know where you are, you know where we are.’

Sir Keir told the president: ‘The special relationship is so important. It’s forged in difficult circumstances, endured for so long, and stronger now than ever.

‘I’m very pleased to be able to come so early in government to recommit to NATO, to recommit to the special relationship and to discuss these affairs with you.’ 

The meeting came as Sir Keir prepared to urge NATO allies to support Ukraine for ‘as long as it takes’ as he confirmed the UK’s own £3 billion a year military aid for Kyiv will continue.

The PM, who met Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in the margins of the NATO summit in Washington yesterday, will tell members of the alliance later that they need to send a ‘clear message’ to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The UK’s military support for Ukraine will continue until at least 2030/31 and for as long as it is needed.

At a special session on Ukraine at the NATO summit, Sir Keir will warn that the frontline defence of the Euro-Atlantic region is the Ukrainian trenches.

He will say: ‘NATO was founded by the generation who defeated fascism. They understood not just the value of our strength, but the strength of our values.

‘Those values are under attack once again. Putin needs to hear a clear message ringing out from this summit – a message of unity and determination, that we will support Ukraine with whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to uphold our shared values and our shared security.’

The Washington summit cemented Ukraine’s ‘irreversible’ progress towards NATO membership, with a joint statement by the allies. 

But because of NATO’s Article V, which commits to mutual defence, the allies will not allow Ukraine to join while it is still at war as that would trigger an immediate conflict with Russia.

NATO allies are stepping up commitments on Ukraine while they await the results of November’s US presidential election, where Donald Trump has threatened to reduce American support.

Concerns about Mr Biden’s plan to run for re-election were evident during his Oval Office meeting with Sir Keir.

The president did not directly respond to questions about George Clooney’s criticism, after the actor and prominent Democrat supporter suggested he should leave the race.