Keir Starmer really is a lucky general. The news that Donald Trump has been convicted of thirty-four felonies helped ensure that the Britain’s Labour Party leader faced questions this morning about the former president, rather than the Diane Abbott selection storm. On his visit to Scotland, Starmer told the BBC that a Labour government would be willing to work with “whoever” was elected in November’s presidential contest.
If elected, Starmer will be in Washington DC for the NATO summit on the day that Trump is sentenced
“Obviously we respect the decision of the court, the independent court — there’s a bit of process to go with sentencing and appeal,” he said. “But we are in an unprecedented situation. There’s no doubt about that.” Starmer added: “Ultimately, whether he’s elected president will be a matter for the American people and, obviously, if we’re privileged to come in to serve, we would work with whoever they choose as their president. But there’s no getting away from the fact this is a wholly unprecedented situation.”
It’s a very different tone to that struck by Jeremy Corbyn, who as Labour leader declined an invitation to the state banquet when Trump visited the UK back in 2019. David Lammy — Labour’s presumptive foreign secretary — has himself been on something of a journey. Having previously denounced the former president as a “neo-Nazi sympathizing sociopath,” Lammy now argues that we should not “personalize” foreign policy debates while his aides proudly tout their meetings with team Trump. There was delight earlier this month at the comments of Elbridge Colby, the potential next American national security advisor, who told Politico that Lammy has a “more compatible vision” with the Trump team than Sunak and David Cameron — including a bigger focus on defense and on Europe.
What’s changed is the recognition that a Labour government is now potentially just five weeks away. If elected, Prime Minister Starmer will be in Washington DC for the NATO summit on the day that Trump is sentenced. That summit will be one of the most important in the history of the alliance, given Trump’s past comments on Europeans not hitting their 2 percent GDP defense spending target. The strategic interests of the UK and the US are such that any incumbent administration in London will have to work with whoever occupies the White House, especially given the numerous international challenges such as Gaza and Ukraine. The party leadership’s tone on Trump is therefore a sober and realistic response to a president who many in Labour privately despise.
This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.
