Keir Starmer should stand up to ‘unreliable ally’ Donald Trump, Ed Davey says
US President Donald Trump is being ‘anti-UK’, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said.
Sir Keir Starmer should be prepared to have a Love Actually moment and stand up to Donald Trump, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has suggested.
Sir Ed Davey said the Prime Minister should take a more robust stance against the US president who has proven himself to be a “totally unreliable” ally.
In festive movie Love Actually, Hugh Grant’s prime minister uses a press conference to stand up to Billy Bob Thornton’s bullying US president.
Sir Ed told the Press Association: “I think the White House and President Trump have proven themselves to be totally unreliable allies.
“I say that with some sadness, because I’ve always believed in Britain’s special relationship with the United States. But with this president, I’m afraid we have to face reality. He is being anti-UK, anti-Europe, and he threatens our economy with his tariffs, and he threatens our defence and security with the way he’s siding with Russia and indeed siding with extreme right-wing parties across Europe.
“He should not be interfering in our democracy, and I asked the Prime Minister to stand up to him in the Prime Minister’s Questions this week, and I’m afraid I got a weak answer.”
Sir Ed added: “I love Love Actually. It’s a brilliant film.
“And if I was prime minister with a press conference with President Trump, I would give him some surprises. He would not like it.”
Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley accused the US president of talking “complete nonsense” about crime in the UK’s capital.
In a GB News interview in November, Mr Trump said crime in London was “crazy” compared to when his mother lived in the city: “Today you have people being stabbed in the ass or worse.”
Mr Trump, who has a long-running feud with London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, said: “You have areas in London – and you have this in Paris, too – where the police don’t even want to go anywhere near those areas.”
Sir Mark told LBC Radio: “In terms of some of the comments that come from America about London, they’re complete nonsense.
“So, there’s no no-go areas. That’s completely false… I think how anybody in America can suggest the UK is violent is completely ridiculous. I think the homicide rate in London is lower than every single US state. It’s lower than all their big cities.
“I think the murder rate in New York, last time I looked, is about three or four times higher than it is in London per capita.”
