Keir Starmer under pressure to cancel King’s visit to US over Trump’s Greenland move | Politics | News
Sir Keir Starmer is coming under increasing pressure to cancel the King’s planned state visit to the US following Donald Trump’s tariff threats against Greenland.
Conservative backbencher Simon Hoare described Trump as a “gangster pirate” and called for the King’s visit to be cancelled.
“The civilized world can no longer deal with Trump. He is a gangster pirate,” he said.
The comments came as the US president alarmed NATO partners by saying countries that oppose America’s takeover of Danish territory could face huge trade penalties within weeks. Mr. Trump has warned that if resistance persists, tariffs would start at 10 percent starting Feb. 1 and possibly rise to 25 percent by June.
Trump has openly named France, Germany and Denmark, as well as the UK, as potential targets on social media. The move sent shockwaves across Europe, with economists warning the UK could be pushed back into “recession watch” if the measures come into force.
Senior figures in Brussels also reacted, with leading European Parliament members warning that retaliation could include freezing the EU-US trade deal. Such a move would increase the risk of a new global trade war, just as fragile economies are trying to regain stability.
Despite months of careful diplomacy aimed at keeping relations with Washington on an even keel, the Prime Minister on Thursday night delivered some of his harshest criticism of Mr. Trump to date.
Sir Keir said: “Our position on Greenland is clear – it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and its future is a matter for Greenlanders and Danes.
“We have also made clear that the security of the Arctic is important for all of NATO and that our allies must collectively do more to counter the Russian threat from different parts of the Arctic.
“Imposing tariffs on allies in order to ensure the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong. Of course, we will pursue this directly with the US administration.”
