Politics

UK PM Congratulates Trump After Labour Supported Harris Campaign

NOV 7 2024·Updated NOV 8 2024

Story

Above: Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, pictured on Nov. 6, 2024. Image credit: Frank Augstein/Contributor/WPA Pool via Getty Images

The Facts

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered "hearty congratulations" to Pres.-elect Donald Trump on his "historic victory," a spokeswoman for Downing Street said on Wednesday.
BBC News
According to an official readout of the call, Starmer said he looked forward to working with Trump and that both leaders agreed "the relationship between the UK and US was incredibly strong and would continue to thrive for many years to come."
GOV.UK
The comes after reports that members and volunteers from Starmer's Labour Party, including his chief of staff and director of communications, met with officials from Vice Pres. Kamala Harris' election campaign in the US. Trump labeled the meeting "blatant foreign interference," though Labour has denied that either Morgan McSweeney or Matthew Doyle assisted the Harris campaign.
Sky News
The Telegraph
Meanwhile, in her first appearance in parliament as the new Conservative leader on Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch brought up another point of contention — past comments from Foreign Minister David Lammy who called Trump "a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath."
BBC News
guardian
Badenoch asked if the foreign minister apologized for the remarks during a September visit to New York in which he and Starmer met with Trump. "And if he did not apologise, will the prime minister do so now on his behalf?" Badenoch said.
guardian
In response, Starmer said, "The foreign secretary and I did meet President-elect Trump just a few weeks ago for dinner for about a couple of hours, and we discussed a number of issues of global significance. It was a very constructive exercise."
LBC

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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

The UK enjoys a historic relationship with the US — standing together on everything from defense and security to growth and prosperity. There's no doubt that the relationship will continue to prosper under the new leadership of Donald Trump.

GOV.UK

Establishment-critical narrative

Despite public statements to the contrary, it looks like Starmer has already burned his bridges with Trump. This is likely to leave the UK isolated on a number of issues and could have profound consequences for the country.

Unherd