Trump says he is ‘very sad’ that the UK-US relationship is ‘not what it was’
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The US president, Donald Trump, has said he is “very sad” to see that the UK-US relationship is “not what it was” after criticising Keir Starmer for taking “far too long” to allow US forces to use its airbases to attack Iran.
In a telephone interview with The Sun’s political editor Harry Cole, Trump said:
It’s a different world, actually. It’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before.
It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was.
Speaking to The Sun from the White House on Monday evening, Trump compared Starmer’s actions unfavourably with France’s support for the strikes and with the backing of the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte.
“He has not been helpful. I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK,” he said.
In a significant and rare break from Washington on foreign policy, Starmer said on Monday that the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies” as he defended his decision not to allow the use of UK bases for the initial wave of attacks.
But the prime minister said the situation changed on Sunday when Iran’s “outrageous” response became a threat to British people and British allies.
He has now agreed to the US request to use British military bases for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites.
The Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, accused the government of being “too scared” to take a stronger stance against Iran.
We will mainly be focusing on the UK political reaction to the rapid developments in the Israel-US war on Iran today, as the conflict spirals across the region with the Israeli military launching new strikes on Tehran and Beirut.
You can follow our business live blog to keep up with market reaction as the war drives up oil and gas prices after Iran expanded its retaliatory attacks on American targets in the Gulf region.
Key events
Spring statement to be delivered amid turmoil in financial markets caused by Iran war
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is expected to claim later today that she has rebuilt the country’s public finances so they can withstand economic shocks as she delivers her spring statement.
As the US-Israel war on Iran continues to cause major disruption to production and supplies, Reeves is expected to lay out how she believes her plan is the best one for a world “that has become yet more uncertain”.
But economists have warned that soaring global energy prices as a result of the widening conflict could jeopardise the chancellor’s plan to rekindle growth and could drive inflation rises.
Ministers have repeatedly sought to play down the significance of the spring statement, and have said it will not contain any new tax and spend policies.
Reeves will speak in the House of Commons at about 12.30pm. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent body that monitors the government’s spending plans and performance, will publish its economic and fiscal outlook at about 12.50pm.
The forecasts are not expected to account for the economic impacts caused by the airstrikes on Iran. You can read our business blog for the latest.
Starmer’s ‘failure to be a reliable ally’ puts UK-US relationship ‘under strain’, Jenrick says
Reform UK’s treasury spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, has said Keir Starmer’s “failure to be a reliable ally” has placed the US-UK relationship “under a lot of strain”.
Jenrick – who left the Conservative frontbench in January – told Times Radio:
It’s bigger and deeper than one prime minister and one president and so I’m sure it can be built up again in the future.
But it’s quite clear that the prime minister’s failure to be a reliable ally to the United States in this moment has placed it under a lot of strain, and that is a cause for concern.
I’m actually more concerned about British interest, rather than what another leader, albeit a very important ally of ours, thinks of the United Kingdom.
And there again, I think Starmer has got it wrong, because we’ve seen the drone attacks on our base in Cyprus, putting in danger our troops and the service families who live there.
The prime minister’s response has been too slow. He should have made our bases available sooner and he should have used what military assets we have to defend that base more rigorously than he did.
Nigel Farage, the Reform party’s leader and a Trump ally, has said that he supports regime change in Iran and that the RAF and Royal Navy should be deployed to support US strikes on Iran.
Many legal experts say that the US-Israel strikes on Iran were unlawful, as they were a violation of the ban on the use of force under the UN charter and international law. The UK government published a summary of legal advice on Sunday night which said:
The UK’s actions and related support to its allies is solely focused on ending the threat of air and missile attacks against regional allies unlawfully attacked by Iran and who have not been involved in hostilities from the outset.
UK not going to get involved in a ‘wider conflict in the Middle East’, minister says
Asked whether the so-called “special relationship” had changed, Darren Jones told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
The UK-American relationship is important. It has been for a long time and will continue to be, and we’re working in collaboration right now in the Middle East on defensive action to protect British citizens.
I think the President’s frustration, from the way he’s articulated it, has been that we were not involved in the initial American and Israeli strikes in Iran, but as the prime minister said to the House of Commons yesterday, we will only engage British armed forces when it’s in British interests with a clear plan and on a legal basis.
We’re now doing that for defensive action, but we’re not going to be getting involved in a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Asked whether the initial attacks were lawful or not, he said: “Well, that’s a question for the Americans and the American administration.”
In his interview with The Sun last night, Donald Trump also suggested that Keir Starmer was “pandering” to Muslim voters in formulating his policy regarding Iran, a baseless claim which the chief secretary to the prime minister, Darren Jones, has been asked about on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.
Jones said:
That’s just, that’s not right. The UK will act in the interests of British citizens, regardless of their faith or where they are in the United Kingdom.
I think the public would rightly say they don’t want to be involved in a wider war in the Middle East, but they would expect us to do whatever we can to defend British citizens.
Jessica Elgot
Keir Starmer has often been praised previously for his ability to maintain a relationship with the volatile US president but on Monday in the House of Commons, the prime minister expressed doubt about the US action in Tehran and its legality.
“We all remember the mistakes of Iraq, and we have learned those lessons. Any UK actions must always have a lawful basis, and a viable thought-through plan,” he said. “That is the principle that I applied to the decisions that I made over the weekend.”
Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Starmer said the UK was deploying planes and allowing the use of bases for defensive purposes because of Iran launching strikes on the UK’s allies in the region in its retaliation.
He said the RAF had intercepted an Iranian drone strike heading for a coalition base in Iraq where UK forces were stationed. Two drones were also fired at the British base in Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, which Starmer said were launched before Sunday night’s statement on the US use of UK bases.
The UK is expected to allow the US to use RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands to bomb Iran’s “missile cities”, sites where high-speed ballistic missiles, Iran’s most dangerous weapons, are stored and can be launched from.
You can read more from the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Jessica Elgot, here:
Trump says he is ‘very sad’ that the UK-US relationship is ‘not what it was’
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The US president, Donald Trump, has said he is “very sad” to see that the UK-US relationship is “not what it was” after criticising Keir Starmer for taking “far too long” to allow US forces to use its airbases to attack Iran.
In a telephone interview with The Sun’s political editor Harry Cole, Trump said:
It’s a different world, actually. It’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before.
It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was.
Speaking to The Sun from the White House on Monday evening, Trump compared Starmer’s actions unfavourably with France’s support for the strikes and with the backing of the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte.
“He has not been helpful. I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK,” he said.
In a significant and rare break from Washington on foreign policy, Starmer said on Monday that the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies” as he defended his decision not to allow the use of UK bases for the initial wave of attacks.
But the prime minister said the situation changed on Sunday when Iran’s “outrageous” response became a threat to British people and British allies.
He has now agreed to the US request to use British military bases for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites.
The Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, accused the government of being “too scared” to take a stronger stance against Iran.
We will mainly be focusing on the UK political reaction to the rapid developments in the Israel-US war on Iran today, as the conflict spirals across the region with the Israeli military launching new strikes on Tehran and Beirut.
You can follow our business live blog to keep up with market reaction as the war drives up oil and gas prices after Iran expanded its retaliatory attacks on American targets in the Gulf region.
