“Keir Starmer should condemn Trump’s illegal action in Venezuela,” Davey argued. “Maduro is a brutal and illegitimate dictator, but unlawful attacks like this make us all less safe. Trump is giving a green light to the likes of Putin and Xi to attack other countries with impunity.”
Even Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and a personal friend of Trump’s, took a stronger line, stating that the U.S. president had indeed violated international law with his Venezuela takeover, but that “it may be a good thing.”
Starmer may not be overly concerned by criticism of his wider silence on Trump. His supporters argue that the PM should not be baited into reactive politics, and that his relationship with the White House is ultimately more important than reaching for the megaphone every time.
As a former director of public prosecutions, Starmer is steeped in the language of process, precedent, and restraint.
Asked by the BBC at the weekend whether Trump was helping create global turmoil, Starmer said: “Our defense, our security, and our intelligence relationship with the U.S. matters probably more than any other relationship that we have in the world, and it would not be in our national interest to weaken that in any way.”
However, the discussion over Trump’s latest move is undoubtedly sucking oxygen away from Starmer’s overriding aim this year: to be seen as a prime minister focused relentlessly on tackling affordability concerns at home.
His pitch to his own restive MPs and the public is that this year they will begin to see the fruits of his government’s efforts to fix the health service, stabilize the economy and rebuild trust.
At a media appearance Monday, Starmer was instead peppered with questions on regime change in Caracas and his support for Denmark.