Sir Keir Starmer has dodged demands from Kemi Badenoch to invite to President Trump to address parliament on his next visit to the UK.
At her first PMQs as leader of the opposition, Ms Badenoch called for the prime minister to show that “he and his government can be more than student politicians” and ask the Commons speaker to extend the invitation to the president elect, who swept to victory in the US election overnight.
In response, the prime minister accused Ms Badenoch of “giving a masterclass in student politics”.
“We live in a more volatile world than we’ve lived in for recent decades”, he said.
“It’s absolutely crucial that we have a strong relationship, that strong special relationship, forged in difficult circumstances between the US and UK.
“We will continue to work as we have done in the four months in government on issues of security, the economy and global conflict.”
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey hit out at Ms Badenoch for her remarks, saying they show the Tory party is “totally out of touch with our values”.
“Kemi Badenoch’s cheerleading of Donald Trump at PMQs shows the Conservatives are totally out of touch with our values We should be standing up for human rights, the rule of law and international security - not rolling out the red carpet for Trump”, he wrote on X.
Downing Street has spent months preparing for a possible Trump victory, knowing that the stark ideological differences between the two administrations could pose a challenge for the prime minister.
Sir Keir – who issued a statement welcoming the new president in the early hours of Wednesday morning - will be keen to build bridges with Trump, after the Republican politician’s campaign filed a legal complaint about Labour activists supporting Kamala Harris’ campaign in the US.
Mocking the Labour leader over the row, Ms Badenoch said: “I am very sure that President Trump will soon be calling to thank him for sending all of those north London Labour activists to campaign for his opponent.”
She also asked the prime minister if foreign secretary David Lammy had apologised to Trump when they met in September for his past criticisms of the president-elect.
The Tory leader said: “If he did not apologise, will the prime minister do so now on his behalf?”
Responding, Sir Keir said: “There will be many issues on which the leader of the opposition and I disagree but there will be issues that do unite this House on national security and Ukraine and I do look forward to working closely with her on that.”
Mr Lammy previously described Trump as a “Neo-Nazi sociopath” and in 2017 said he would protest if “racist and KKK/neo-Nazi sympathiser Trump” visited London.
After his victory, the foreign secretary offered his congratulations, saying the UK “has no greater friend than the US, with the special relationship being cherished on both sides of the Atlantic for more than 80 years.”
“We look forward to working with you and J D Vance in the years ahead”, he posted to X.
