David Lammy has insulted Donald Trump while hitting back at the president’s attacks on Sir Keir Starmer, branding them “small and petty” and accusing the US President of using personal insults as a lever to force Britain’s hand on Iran — while making clear London has no intention of being pulled into the conflict.
The Foreign Secretary said a leader of Trump’s stature ought to be capable of disagreeing with allies through diplomatic channels, and argued that Washington’s conduct had “made things worse, not better” for an already unstable world.
Ties between the two countries have frayed badly over the course of the conflict, with the President taking repeated aim at the Prime Minister in public for declining to put British military resources behind the US campaign. Most notably Trump dismissed Starmer as “not Winston Churchill” over the Prime Minister’s failure to allow US aircraft to use UK bases in the early days of his attacks on Iran.
Lammy’s Washington mission
Determined to lower the temperature and impress upon Washington the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — through which a significant share of the planet’s energy and cargo moves — Lammy made the trip to the American capital last week, sitting down with Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Breaking his silence on those discussions, Lammy said he had “no doubt” that American politicians “purely through self-interest alone” appreciated the economic destruction the conflict was unleashing, and noted that Vance was acutely conscious of household costs as the midterm elections drew closer.
Labour’s anti-Trump legacy
Before he became Foreign Secretary, David Lammy once branded Trump a “tyrant” and a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath” from the backbenches.
When pressed on those remarks by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Lammy declined to apologise, saying he was “not looking back” but “looking forward.”
He insisted he would be “gracious” to Trump during his state visit to the UK, despite the history of inflammatory comments, and said he had “enjoyed” meeting the US President in New York in September alongside Sir Keir, describing Trump as “a very gracious host” with whom the group had shared “good discussion” and “a laugh in places.”
“I will do everything possible on behalf of the British people in relation to our national interests, and that is working with our close ally. And just as he has been gracious to me, I will be gracious to him,” Lammy said.
“That was the way I was brought up in the great part of London called Tottenham and the great city of Peterborough – you are gracious to those who are gracious to you.”
Labour’s fraught history with Trump is not limited to Lammy. In 2016, Sir Keir described Trump’s comments as “repugnant” and “offensive, shocking and disturbing.”
Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel urged the Government to rebuild bridges with Washington, warning: “Keir Starmer and David Lammy must now work twice as hard to repair the damage resulting from their immature and reckless statements.”
She added: “There is much the Conservative Party and President Trump agree on — particularly the challenges facing our countries on protecting our borders, tackling illegal immigration, and raising defence spending.”
Dame Priti said the “importance of our relationship with the US cannot be overstated” and described Trump’s election as presenting “exciting new opportunities” in the years ahead.
Starmer under siege
A potential diplomatic opening emerged on Sunday when Trump revealed that American negotiators would make for Pakistan this week in a fresh push for a negotiated settlement. But he coupled the announcement with a stark warning — the US would “knock out” every Iranian power station if Tehran walked away from the table. The strait remains shut.
Back home, the Prime Minister is battling on a separate front entirely. Sir Keir faces mounting demands that he quit over the circumstances surrounding Lord Mandelson’s installation as Britain’s man in Washington — a saga that has consumed Westminster for weeks and shows no sign of abating.
Writing to Sir Keir on Sunday, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of treating parliament with contempt and signalled she expected full and unvarnished answers when he stands before MPs. She urged him to “give us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
The affair took a further damaging turn when it emerged that Downing Street had received a detailed briefing document on Mandelson — assembled by the Cabinet Office — well before the security vetting process ran its course. That document cast doubt on his suitability for the role, raising pointed questions about his commercial activities in China and expressing unease about the glowing terms in which he had described a private exchange with Xi Jinping — an account officials characterised as “flowery.”