Keir Starmer’s approach to Donald Trump is like that of a child in a playground hoping “the bully doesn’t notice them” and he should be more brave in standing up to the US president, Ed Davey has said.
In a direct challenge to the prime minister, the Liberal Democrat leader said that while the UK must engage with Trump it was “the patriotic thing to do” to call him out rather than try to indulge or placate him.
“I think so many people want to see our politicians standing up for British values and showing that we don’t think Donald Trump represents them or understands them,” Davey said.
“It’s not just that people want to see someone speaking up for British values. I don’t think Trump respects weakness. Frankly he never has done, and if you’re going to do a deal with him you’ve got to show you’re strong.
“I know the government are sort of hoping that they’re going to stand in the playground and the bully doesn’t notice them, and I can have some sympathy with what they’re trying to do. But I just think there’s a danger that it’s not going to work.”
Last month Davey called for the government to try to “Trump-proof” the UK economy from the economic shocks of his policies by seeking a formal customs union with the EU, and to only allow the president a state visit to Britain if he agreed to concessions over Ukraine.
Since then, Trump and his team have talked about a deal over Ukraine that excludes the views of European nations, and warned the US no longer sees the defence of Europe as a priority.
While Starmer has openly disagreed with the US administration on occasions, for example insisting that Ukraine should still be permitted to join Nato, the main approach has been to minimise any differences.
Starmer has spoken on the phone twice with Trump and Downing Street hopes to build on their relationship with a visit to Washington expected the week after next.
Davey argued this was the wrong approach, for moral and pragmatic reasons. “We’re not anti-American. But if the president of the United States is doing things that are against the British national interest and against our values, someone has to point them out. We can’t just be supine,” he said.
“And if it descends into some sort of Farage-style boot-licking operation, Trump is just going to walk all over us. So I think you’ve got to stand up to him, and I think that’s the patriotic thing to do.”
Davey was scathing about the approach of Nigel Farage, saying the Reform UK leader – a longtime Trump supporter – was “acting as if he’s more interested in Trump’s success than he is Britain’s”.
He also heavily criticised Kemi Badenoch, arguing that the Conservative leader had done nothing to distance herself from Trump over Ukraine.
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“If you think about how some of her predecessors were talking about Ukraine the whole time, suddenly she won’t talk about it,” Davey said. “She hasn’t raised it in prime minister’s questions at all. It’s almost as if she’s scared of [Elon] Musk and Trump, or shares some of their values – who knows?
“It’s worrying that you’ve got the Conservative party and the Reform party, the parties on the right, not willing to stand up for British values. And I think people are going to see that.”
Polling suggests many UK voters are closer to the Lib Dems’ approach towards Trump than that taken by the government or the Conservatives, and certainly Reform.
Davey said this was not the reason for his approach. “It’s who we are. We’re being ourselves. We haven’t changed. We haven’t changed about being pro-European,” he said.
Nonetheless, he said it was “an opportunity for us”. He said: “There are a lot of Conservative voters who you might call one nation Conservatives, who will be looking at Trump in horror, and they’ll be looking at Kemi in horror, and I think they’ll like the fact that we’re being strong and standing up and saying the things that others won’t say.”
Source: theguardian.com
