Starmer’s spokesman this afternoon said “serious behind the scenes diplomacy has got us to this place” after Trump said a framework of a deal had been reached and he would be cancelling tariffs scheduled to come into force shortly. Lobby journalists were told that “constant communication with the US administration in Davos and working closely with the Nato Secretary-General” by British officials is to thank in large part for the resolution. ‘We are the real Trump whisperers, promise!’
The Lobby recently discovered extracts from a book – The New Machiavelli – written by National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell in which he says the two approaches to take to the US are the publicly belligerent French one or behind-the-scenes proximate diplomacy favoured by the British. A blindingly obvious point made by countless others for years…
The reality of the changing global order is getting real for Keir Starmer as the UK has declined to join Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’. Another Labour decision that will not go down well in DC…
High-level US sources in the administration have suggested to Guido that the ultimate result of the UK continuing with Starmer’s botched Chagos deal could be that America cuts off a degree of vital intelligence sharing. This is the key lock that Trump has on Starmer, he is motivated enough to use it over Chagos…
The issue is directly relevant as Diego Garcia is an active intelligence asset used by both US and UK forces. Individuals – including those with links to the US intelligence establishment – have confirmed that Trump’s ire is so severe with Starmer that a degree of cooperation “could be terminated”. It doesn’t matter what happens in Parliament if this route is activated…
No10 refused yesterday to say that the US continues to support the Chagos deal. Something which Starmer’s spokesman had insisted even in aftermath of Trump’s attack…
There’s not only huge diplomatic, parliamentary and public pressure to block the Chagos deal, but there’s also now pressure in the military community. Another Labour u-turn coming…
On Greenland, President Trump said during his Davos speech:
“All I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and very poorly located. It’s a very small ask considering what we’ve given them [NATO] for decades..We want a piece of ice for world protection. ”
Trump’s speech in Davos took aim at the crisis of the UK’s electricity supply:
“The United Kingdom produces just one third of the total energy from all sources than it did in 1999. They’re sitting on top of the North Sea, one of the greatest reserves anywhere in the world. But they don’t use it. And that’s one reason why their energy has reached catastrophically low levels, with equally high prices… They are sitting on top of the North Sea – one of the greatest reserves in the world, they take 92% of the revenues… they make it impossible to drill.”
This is on the same day that Miliband announces more taxpayer subsidies for heat pumps and solar panels. It is a conscious choice of Labour to starve Britain’s sovereign energy resources to death…
Number 10 is tying itself in knots over the collapsing Chagos surrender deal. Having maintained yesterday that the US still supported the deal – despite Trump calling it ‘stupid’ – the Number 10 spokesman today failed to repeat the same claim. Now they’re just insisting the government’s own position “hasn’t changed”…
Speaking to the post-PMQs huddle of Lobby hacks, the Number 10 spokesman said:
“I was pointing back yesterday to the clear support for the deal [from Secretary of State Marco Rubio]… and that’s a matter of public record…
I haven’t got an update for you from yesterday… You’ve got the Prime Minister’s words.”
Total chaos…
The Number 10 spokesman just claimed the White House “still supports” the Chagos surrender deal, and Downing Street’s position “hasn’t changed“. This morning Trump said it was an act of “GREAT STUPIDITY”. If that means he still supports it, what would withdrawing his support look like?
Speaking at the Lobby briefing of political journalists this afternoon, the spokesman said:
“I think [Darren Jones] was very clear that the agreement has been signed, and that the process through the Lords is an additional process to that. Our position hasn’t changed… I would just point you back again to [Marco Rubio’s statements last year] in which they welcomed the historic agreement between the UK and Mauritius… The US supports the deal and the President recognised its strength last year.”
You’d think Starmer of all people would be familiar with the concept of a U-turn. Asked about the specific language of Trump’s Truth Social post, the spokesman said “it is not for me to comment on the President’s social media”…
Lucy Powell on LBC, asked by Tom Swarbrick for her reaction to Labour MP Samantha Niblett’s call for a ‘summer of sex’ debate in Parliament: “I personally don’t own any sex toys, but each to their own… I’m not really sure that’s the right place for it, no.”