Prime Minister Keir Starmer defends the UK-US alliance as American planes operate from British bases, countering Donald Trump’s public criticism of their cooperation.
LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer has robustly defended the operational reality of the UK-US defence relationship, countering public criticism from former President Donald Trump.
Starmer told parliament that American aircraft are currently operating from British bases, describing this as the “special relationship in action”.
He further detailed that British jets are actively engaged in shooting down drones and missiles to protect American personnel on joint bases in the Middle East.
The prime minister emphasised daily intelligence sharing between the two nations as another cornerstone of the alliance, aimed at keeping their people safe.
Starmer’s comments came in direct response to a series of critical remarks from Trump regarding the state of the transatlantic partnership.
In a published interview, Trump described the historical US-UK relationship as “not like it used to be”, later escalating his criticism by stating “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with”.
Seated beside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House, Trump claimed “the UK has been very, very uncooperative” and expressed his unhappiness, suggesting it took days to arrange landing permissions.
The friction stems from Starmer’s initial refusal to involve the UK in Washington’s military actions against Iran, a position he articulated to parliament by stating his government “does not believe in regime change from the skies”.
Following this initial stance, which drew Trump’s wrath, Starmer later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for what was described as a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.
Starmer has previously cultivated a warm relationship with Trump, who was granted an unprecedented second state visit to Britain last year.
The so-called special relationship between the World War II allies is fundamentally built upon long-standing defence cooperation and intelligence sharing.
Any potential UK involvement in Middle Eastern military action remains politically sensitive, a legacy of former prime minister Tony Blair’s support for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The Sun Malaysia
