“Serious, calm, pragmatic, behind-the-scenes diplomacy” is how No 10 has been describing Keir Starmer’s approach to the chaotic world of Donald Trump’s administration.
That may have been how the week started – and tiptoeing around Trump’s volatility has been the hallmark of Starmer’s relationship with the president for a whole year. But the president’s two major digs at Britain, first over the Chagos Islands and then, more seriously, his claim that UK troops did not pull their weight in Afghanistan, have finally provoked Starmer into a furious rebuttal.
Starmer’s demand for an apology over the “insulting and frankly appalling” words from an unrepentant Trump marks the worst week for US-UK relations since the president took over last year.
The prime minister’s two televised press statements this week are a sign of his exasperation with Trump’s remarks about the UK – and he appeared ready at last to draw a line in the sand about what is unacceptable to say about an ally.
Many Labour MPs will feel relieved that Starmer has hit back, having long felt uncomfortable about the UK sounding overly sycophantic towards Trump – especially when polls show the British public is no fan of the US president.
Starmer may also have one eye on the threat he could face to his leadership from the soft left in his party, with Andy Burnham considering a possible return to parliament in the Gorton and Denton byelection.
Standing up to Trump will not do Starmer any harm with his domestic audience or within his own party, but the gamble for No 10 on the international stage is clear, with world leaders, businesses and politicians all fearful of the president’s reactions to criticism.
No 10 has already had to delay its Chagos bill, which was due to return to the Lords on Monday in the face of Tory attempts to wreck it. But there are also some fears that Trump could seek to block the transfer through a 1961 treaty if relations with the UK fray further.
The prime minister’s bolder approach to Trump at least coincides with speeches from Canada’s Mark Carney and France’s Emmanuel Macron, who have made the points in Davos this week that middle-ranking countries will need to stand together more.
Increasing distance from the US also leaves Starmer with the politically perilous but potentially appealing option of deciding to make the argument that the UK should move closer to Europe.
There are already voices within Labour urging him to protect against the unpredictability and now occasional hostility of America by strengthening ties with the EU again – with new scope for arguments about more pooling of defence and economic security.
And it opens up the possibility of a greater political divide against Reform, given the public’s uneasiness about Nigel Farage’s repeated defences of Trump. Although the Reform leader said Trump was “wrong” about the record of British troops in Afghanistan, he had earlier in the week raised eyebrows by suggesting Greenland would be safer in America’s hands – even if it was a matter of sovereignty for the state and Denmark.
Reform remains firmly ahead of Labour in the polls, but Starmer’s party has a chance to make some arguments that favour ties with Europe over Trump’s America. Perhaps the public may be more ready to listen than it has been in a long time.
