David Vance SubstackRead More
Well, I guess we can all see that the “special relationship” between the UK and the US is well and truly over. Yesterday President Trump said he was “very disappointed” in Keir Starmer for initially refusing the US use of UK bases (including Diego Garcia) for strikes on Iran and complained Starmer “took far too long” to change his mind. He suggested this kind of hesitation had “probably never happened” between the US and UK before and implied Starmer was overly worried about the legality of the strikes.
This is startling as I cannot remember a US President publicly calling out a British Prime Minister in my lifetime, can you? But I understand Trump’s anger. Diego Garcia, in particular, allows a clean uninterrupted run at Iran.
Starmer has then responded in Parliament by saying that he “stands by” his decision not to join the initial offensive strikes and that his choices are guided by law and the UK national interests. Of course his stance has shifted somewhat following missile/drone attacks on the RAF bases on Cyprus. But even then he is caveating it by saying that the US can now UK bases so long as it is for “defensive” attacks on Iranian missiles bases.
However isn’t there another aspect to this? The British bases on Cyprus are the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, two sovereign territories retained by the UK under the 1960 Treaty of Independence. They cover about 98 square miles (3% of Cyprus) and host around 3,500 UK service personnel plus dependants. So this was an attack on BRITISH territory. We are a NATO member and any country which attacks a NATO member can be subject to Article 5 which means ALL NATO members attack the hostile force. So why isn’t Starmer demanding NATO now join in the response to Iran?
The answer is simple. He is a coward who is too busy genuflecting to “International law” whilst simultaneously seeking to appease his muslim voter base. He is unwilling to do the right thing and this is more apparent by the day. More and more Americans now conclude that the UK is no longer a dependable ally. It is at best a neutral third party which in some circumstances might help, but in other circumstances will obstruct and condemn the US.
PS Cyprus has subsequently suggested that poor communication by the UK government led to the drone attack on RAF Akrotiri It hasn’t ruled out renegotiating the use of the base.
So Starmer has cost us the loss of confidence of the USA and Cyprus,
