Labour moves to protect ‘special relationship’ after Starmer swipe at Trump

Labour has pledged to work with “whomever is in the White House” following the next US presidential election after Sir Keir Starmer took a veiled swipe at Donald Trump.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the Labour leader said Britain “will always stand up for our allies even if others threaten not to” in what appeared to be a direct rebuke of Mr Trump’s recent criticisms of Nato.

He told The Telegraph that, in regards to future threats, the defence alliance must “renew, and resource, not divide and threaten” before adding: “Bad faith politics risks our security.”

Mr Trump, the former president who is considered the favourite for the Republican ticket at the election in November, has suggested at several recent rallies that he would refuse to protect Nato members who he believes do not pay enough to maintain the alliance.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, however, later softened the tone, insisting the party would work with “whomever is in the White House” if it wins the next election.

Asked about past comments he made calling Mr Trump a “woman-hating neo-Nazi sympathiser”, Mr Lammy told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “The truth is you’ll be hard pressed to find anybody who was in Parliament on any side, who hasn’t had views on some of the rhetoric that Donald Trump has used in the past.

“Indeed, David Cameron described him as misogynistic and xenophobic in his own book.”

Labour leader Keir Starmer issued veiled criticism of Donald Trump’s stance on Nato (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Mr Lammy continued: “We will work with whomever is in the White House, it doesn’t matter, frankly, who is the incumbent of Number 10 or the White House, we are the closest allies.

“It’s a prevailing and strong partnership, it will remain that. We should not get too carried away with the rhetoric that of course we’ll all hear over the next few months in an election cycle.”

Labour has also indicated it would seek a new security pact with the EU if it wins power amid growing concerns over the impact Mr Trump’s return to the White House could have on global security.

The idea of a security deal with the EU was first floated in 2018 under then-prime minister Theresa May, who stated at the time that there was “no reason why we should not agree distinct agreements for our foreign and defence policy cooperation”.

Setting out his plans for a new security arrangement in Munich, Starmer said his party had an “unshakeable commitment” to Nato.

“The UK and EU face the same threats: not just growing Russian aggression, but instability in the Middle East, a climate emergency and global health crises,” he said.

“Closer UK-EU security cooperation through a new security pact can strengthen our shared capacity to respond to these threats and challenges.”

At the Munich Security Conference, Starmer was involved in meetings with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

He has said he would work with member states of Nato to develop a “Democratic Resilience Centre” to counter disinformation and hybrid threats, as well as focus on Russian aggression and defence against weapons of the future.

Starmer also said the Conservative Government had allowed the “degradation of the UK’s armed forces”, saying it was a “shameful indictment of the Tories’ short-sighted politics and refusal to take the blinkers off to face worsening global security”.

He said: “The world is getting more dangerous, divided and disordered. Putin’s war in Ukraine, conflict across Africa and the Middle East and the climate crisis are contributing to a breakdown of the multilateral system that has kept us safe.

“These threats are compounded by an insecure UK economy now in recession.

“Labour is unshakeably committed to the traditional alliances like Nato that our security depends on, but in a changing world we also need to seek new partnerships and build new alliances to face down 21st century threats.”