{"id":12446,"date":"2025-07-27T02:14:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T02:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=12446"},"modified":"2025-07-27T02:14:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T02:14:55","slug":"dear-keir-starmer-stop-cosying-up-to-donald-trump-or-hell-drag-britain-down-with-him-simon-tisdall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=12446","title":{"rendered":"Dear Keir Starmer, stop cosying up to Donald Trump \u2013 or he\u2019ll drag Britain down with him | Simon Tisdall"},"content":{"rendered":"

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D<\/span>onald Trump\u2019s victory in last November\u2019s US presidential election presented Keir Starmer, Britain\u2019s Labour prime minister, with a choice \u2013 and an opportunity. Either cosy up to a man whose obnoxious, hard-right, ultra-nationalist policies are inimical to UK security and foreign policy interests, economic prosperity and democratic values; or risk a rupture with the US, a longstanding but overbearing ally, and seize the moment to redefine Britain\u2019s place in the world, primarily through reintegration in Europe.<\/p>\n

Starmer made the wrong call \u2013 and Britain has paid a heavy price ever since. The cost to national dignity and the public purse will be on painful show this weekend as Trump, pursued by the Epstein scandal and angry protesters, makes an expensively policed, ostensibly private visit to his golf courses in Scotland. On Monday, the prime minister will travel north to kiss the ring. More humiliations loom. In September, Trump will return for an unprecedented second state visit, at Starmer\u2019s unctuous behest. At that point, the full, embarrassing extent of Britain\u2019s thraldom will be there for all the world to see.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be clear. Trump is no friend of Britain\u2019s and is, in key respects, a dangerous foe. Efforts to curry favour with this narcissist will ultimately prove futile. Trump always reneges. His unedifying career is littered with broken promises and relationships, personal and political. His only loyalty is to himself. Right now, this wannabe dictator is busy making America not greater but weaker, poorer, less influential and more disliked. Don\u2019t let him drag Britain down, too. It\u2019s not too late to make the break.<\/p>\n

US leadership of the western democracies used to be taken for granted. Now it\u2019s a problem. Politicians in both Britain\u2019s main parties have difficulty accepting this shift. As so often, public opinion is ahead of them. Recent polling by the Pew Research Center found 62% of Britons have no confidence in Trump \u201cto do the right thing regarding world affairs\u201d. Most of those surveyed in 24 countries viewed him as dangerous, arrogant and dishonest. Thanks to him, the US\u2019s international standing is in freefall.<\/p>\n

Giving Israel a free hand in Gaza is the most egregious example of how Trump\u2019s policies conflict with UK interests. Starmer\u2019s government has condemned the deliberate killing and starving of civilians. Among the 55% of Britons opposed to Israel\u2019s actions, 82% believe they amount to genocide, a YouGov poll found last month. A majority backs additional sanctions. Trump\u2019s support for forced relocations, opposition to a two-state solution and close collaboration with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli leader charged with war crimes, all contradict stated UK policy. Trump bears significant personal responsibility for what Starmer calls the \u201cunspeakable and indefensible\u201d horror in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Starmer warned dramatically last month that the UK was in growing danger of military attack following Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Britain and other Nato states have steadfastly supported Kyiv. Not so Trump. Since taking office, he has toadied to Vladimir Putin, vilified Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suspended military supplies and questioned Nato\u2019s future. Ignoring proliferation fears, Trump is simultaneously fuelling a nuclear arms race. Now the hapless Starmer has been panicked into buying US jets capable of carrying warheads and, it is claimed, has secretly allowed US-owned nukes back into the UK. This is not the Britain Labour voters want.<\/p>\n

Trump recently reversed himself on Ukraine, patched things up with Nato and criticised Putin. But he could change his mind again tomorrow. Oblivious to the glaring double standard, he congratulates himself meanwhile on \u201cobliterating\u201d Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities \u2013 even though last month\u2019s illegal US bombing was only partly successful. Britain rightly favours negotiations with Tehran. It wasn\u2019t consulted.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s tariff wars pose a direct threat to the UK economy, jobs and living standards. Despite Starmer\u2019s deal mitigating their impact, 10% tariffs or higher remain on most US-bound exports. Trump\u2019s bullying of Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Panama and others over sovereignty, migration and trade feeds uncertainty. His irrational hostility to the EU may gratify the likes of Nigel Farage (and Putin). But endless rows between important allies do not serve Britain\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

The advance of hard-right, nationalist-populist parties in Europe and, most recently, in Japan suggests the socially divisive, chauvinist agendas championed by Trump\u2019s Maga movement have widening international appeal. That augurs ill for democracy in Britain and the world generally. For the same reason, Trump\u2019s assaults on US constitutional rights, notably minority and gender rights, attacks on judges, universities and public institutions, and attempts to suppress independent media scrutiny are ominous. Such toxic behaviour is contagious. Trumpism is the new Covid. Britain needs inoculation.<\/p>\n

By slashing overseas aid, cutting public service broadcasters such as Voice of America, defunding and ostracising UN agencies, flouting international courts and pretending the climate emergency is illusory, Trump inflicts immense harm on the US\u2019s reputation, global influence and soft-power armoury. He is wrecking the rules-based order that Britain views as fundamental. It\u2019s a gift to China, Russia and authoritarians everywhere. As Pentagon spending rockets to $1tn annually, his crude message is unmistakeable: might makes right. Brute strength rules.<\/p>\n

Trump is a disaster for the west and all in the UK who respect progressive democratic values. His second term will evidently be more globally perilous, destructive and destabilising than his first. In support of universal principles established centuries before anyone heard of him, Britain should steer clear of this walking, talking catastrophe. Rather than hug Trump close, Starmer should keep him at arm\u2019s length for fear of infection.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t go to Scotland to see him, Prime Minister. Don\u2019t waste your breath. Instead, start planning for the post-special-relationship era. Make the break. It\u2019s time.<\/p>\n