Speaking in the House of Commons Wednesday Starmer told MPs he will not yield to the U.S. president’s threats.
“It is not our war, and a lot of pressure has been applied to me to take a different course, and that pressure included what happened last night. I’m not going to change my mind. I’m not going to yield,” he told British MPs.
Asked about U.K.-U.S. relations in the same Sky interview, Trump did not hold back. “It’s the relationship where: when we asked them for help, they were not there. When we needed them, they were not there. When we didn’t need them, they were not there. And they still aren’t there.”
The U.S. president’s threat will sound alarm bells through Westminster 11 months after the U.K. became the first country to sign a trade deal with the U.S. under Trump’s second term. The pact saw the U.S. agree to lower tariffs on British automotives, steel and aerospace in exchange for beef and bioethanol access.
As the first anniversary of the deal approaches, U.S. tariffs on British steel have still not been fully removed, while the future of the Technology Prosperity Deal negotiated during Trump’s state visit to the U.K. in September hangs in the balance amid concern over the pace of wider trade negotiations.
The U.S. president, whose “drill, baby drill” mantra has defined his energy policy, also used the interview to sound off about the U.K.’s decision to cut back on new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.