Sir Keir Starmer is facing a growing rebellion from Labour MPs over his failure to condemn Donald Trump’s strikes on Venezuela and the capture of Nicolas Maduro.
Former shadow attorney general Dame Emily Thornberry became the most senior Labour figure to denounce the US actions, piling pressure on Sir Keir to disown Mr Trump’s conduct and stating “it must be called out”.
Dame Emily, chair of the commons foreign affairs select committee, warned: “You can’t walk into a smaller country and take its resources, tell its leadership what to do or throw the leaders in jail.
“There are rules. These came out of the chaos, suffering and bloodshed of the Second World War.
“Might must not be right. Just because larger countries can walk into smaller ones doesn’t mean they are allowed to.”
Writing in the Daily Mirror, she said: “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, but it is in everyone’s interests that it doesn’t and it has to be called out.
“Trump says that Venezuela is in his ‘sphere of influence’ and therefore he has a free hand.
“The worry is that China may today be thinking, ‘Isn’t Taiwan in our sphere of influence?’ And Putin thinking ‘And Ukraine is in mine.’”
Her comments were echoed by Norwich Labour MP Clive Lewis, who said the US attack on Venezuela was a “clear breach of the Nuremberg principles – which the UK helped write.
“Now a [Labour government] won’t even defend them”, said Mr Lewis in a post on X (Twitter).
“This silence isn’t diplomacy. It’s the moral equivalent of a white flag.”
The Nuremberg principles are foundational rules of international law which were established in the wake of the Second World War.
Fellow left-wing Labour MP Richard Burgon demanded that Sir Keir join other leaders in criticising Mr Trump, while Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside Kim Johnson questioned whether “we as a country still stand for international law and sovereignty”.
“Either Keir Starmer believes in international law – or he doesn't”, said Mr Burgon in a post on X.
He added: “You can’t pick and choose. Trump’s war on Venezuela is about stealing its oil. It’s also about turning the whole of Latin America back into a US colony.
“And it’s about sending a message that international law does not matter. All governments, including ours, must stand up to Trump’s gangster politics.”
Poplar and Limehouse Labour MP Apsana Begum said: “The prime minister’s support for Trump will forever haunt his legacy.
“This is shameful and tremendously damaging to democracy and trust at home and the UK’s standing globally.”
Ms Begum tweeted: “The British public still remember the UK’s role supporting the illegal US-led war in Iraq. Even now, under international law, the people of Venezuela have the right to determine their own future.”
Meanwhile, former Labour MP Diane Abbott, who currently sits as an Independent MP, told Sir Keir: “If you cannot say this is illegal, all your talk of human rights, the law and democracy is so much hot air.”
And ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused President Trump of an “unprovoked and illegal attack” on Venezuela.
Anxious to preserve diplomatic ties with the UK’s most powerful ally, Sir Keir, a former human rights lawyer, has yet to criticise the American raid.
Instead, he has said he wants to “establish the facts, and take it from there”, adding that he had been a “lifelong advocate of international law”.
Later, the PM appeared to endorse Mr Trump’s actions, stating he would “shed no tears” over the end of the Maduro regime.
With threats of further action by Mr Trump against Greenland and Colombia, calls from the Labour Left and others for Sir Keir to speak out are likely to increase.
But Home Office minister Mike Tapp refused to say whether the government would condemn any such action, telling Sky News he won’t “give a running commentary” or “talk about hypotheticals”.
Asked about the US president’s threats, Mr Tapp told Sky News: “I’d be really clear that allies do matter, which is why these careful diplomatic conversations behind the scenes are ongoing with the United States and with our European allies and Five Eyes partners, and we’re not going to give a running commentary.”
Pressed on whether he could say Britain would condemn any action against Greenland, he said: “These are both Nato members, and I’m really proud that Nato has used discussion over division.”
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