Starmer questions Trump’s values over threats to wipe out a ‘whole civilisation’ in Iran

Keir Starmer has lashed out at Donald Trump over the US president’s threats against Iran that suggested he was ready to wipe out “an entire civilisation” in a Middle East war.

The British prime minister questioned Mr Trump’s values ​​at a sensitive time in the war, with questions about whether the fragile ceasefire should stand and ahead of King Charles’s state visit to the US later this month.

Speaking to ITV’s Robert Peston, Sir Keir said: “Let me be really clear about this; these are not words I would ever use, because I come into this with our British values ​​and principles.”

He added: “It’s very important for the UK to be clear that we have principles and values. We will be guided by them in everything we do. That’s why I’ve said it, and obviously that’s caused a degree of criticism and pressure over the last few weeks.”

The US president has previously spoken proudly of his connections to Britain through his Scottish mother and his love for the royal family; So the prime minister’s criticism appeared to be a carefully chosen diplomatic way of attacking Mr. Trump.

When King Charles and Queen Camilla are scheduled to be at the White House at the end of April, Mr Trump will be hoping to mark the occasion and his ties to British values.

But this comes at a time when the US president has repeatedly attacked Sir Keir for not joining the war against Iran alongside the US and Israel.

He said the Prime Minister was “no Churchill” and likened him to the appeasing Neville Chamberlain.

Sir Keir also called on the Iranians to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which is currently closed to international shipping, but also demanded that Israel stop bombing Lebanon, which appears to put the ceasefire at risk.

In a message to Israel, he said: “This should not happen. This must stop. This is my strong view. So the question is not a technical one about whether this is a violation of the agreement.”

“It’s actually a matter of principle on my part. And my argument, in a sense, is that it should be included in the ceasefire, and that’s the important part, the overall approach.”

But Trump also admitted that he and other allies were unclear on the details of the cease-fire agreement between Iran and the United States after he withheld the details following claims that NATO had disappointed him by its failure to participate in the reopening of the straits.

“Not all of us have access to all the details of the ceasefire,” the Prime Minister said.

Sir Keir traveled to the Middle East on a two-day trip, meeting with allies in the Gulf states and visiting British military personnel involved in collective defense actions in the region against attacks from Iran.

Sir Keir told ITV’s Talking Politics podcast: “There’s a sense of relief that there’s a ceasefire, I think there’s a sense that the ceasefire is fragile, there’s a lot of work to be done on the ceasefire and so there’s a sense of relief.

“I think this is probably shared, or my sense is shared, in the UK, where people are very concerned about what they’re seeing on their television screens, they’re very concerned about the impact it might have on them.”

The Prime Minister said that he discussed defense capabilities with the leaders he met in the region.

He added: “The final sentiment, if you will, is that they are pleased to see a friend, because these are our long-standing allies in the Gulf region; it is very important that we are here at a time like this to show that we stand with our allies.

“We’ve obviously been in pretty intense collective self-defense with our service personnel here over the last six to seven weeks, and the statement was: It’s nice to have a friend here with whom we can discuss these issues at a time like this.”