Minister plays down Trump’s Nato threat, arguing US alliance strong enough to ‘outlast’ current issues – UK politics live | Politics
Pat McFadden downplays Trump’s threat to NATO, arguing US alliance is strong enough to ‘outlast’ current problems
Good morning. Keir Starmer He’s holding a press conference in Downing Street this morning. Like Kiran Stacey According to reports, the Prime Minister’s main aim will be to announce support for the people most affected by rising energy prices, especially homeowners who are dependent on heating oil. The measures are expected to be worth tens of millions of pounds.
But inevitably much of the focus will be on how Starmer responds to Donald Trump’s latest provocations.
To recap: Last weekend, Trump rejected the UK position, saying the US didn’t need British support in the Gulf anyway because “we don’t need people fighting wars after we’ve already won them.” This weekend he was asking Britain and other countries to send warships to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open. The government stated that it would not deploy warships but could send minesweepers. Here are some of today’s headlines.
The Guardian’s full story is here.
After talking curiously for a while, Embers He’s now back in threat mode. Briefly Interview with Financial Times He has hinted that he may pull the plug on NATO if countries such as Britain do not deploy warships to protect oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. He said:
It would be appropriate for those who benefit from the Bosphorus to help prevent anything bad from happening there…
If there is no response or a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.
We’ll find out what Starmer has to say about this later, but we’ve already got an answer. Pat McFaddenthe work and pensions secretary, who was on the morning round of interviews. Speaking to Sky News, McFadden downplayed the threat, arguing that the US-UK alliance was strong enough to be “more able to withstand” any problems arising from Trump’s rhetoric. When asked to comment on the quote, he said:
That’s the president right there. The quote you just gave sums it up.
This is a highly transactional presidency, and our job is to lead it, always remembering that the friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom runs deep.
It’s a good relationship. It is permanent and I think it will outlast all the personalities involved.
We will discuss the press conference in detail, but we will not focus only on Iran today; There are other policies around. Here is the agenda of the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer meets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Downing Street.
10.30: Starmer holds his press conference.
11am: Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, held a press conference in which the party said it would be “an important update on the Doge and Reform in local government”.
11.30: Work and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden is giving a speech where he will announce plans for employment grants and apprenticeship promotions for young people.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch visits London.
12.30: Malcolm Offord, Reform UK’s leader in Scotland, attends a Q&A at the Institute of Government.
13.30: Presented by your party’s parliamentary leader, Jeremy Corbyn Findings of the Gaza Tribunal report. As Patrick Wintour reported, the government will be said to be complicit in Israel’s crimes.
14.30: Defense Secretary John Healey answers questions in the House of Commons.
If you would like to contact me, please send a message below the line or send a message on social media during comments open hours (between 10:00 – 15:00). I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful for readers to point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to respond to them all, but I will try to respond as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
important events
This is from FT Edward Luce in bluesky Trump is in the scoop. (See 9.22 p.m.)
I called Trump and he answered the phone.
He still has NATO and England in his sights
Keir Starmer meets his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney in Downing Street this morning.
McFadden says UK doesn’t have to support every demand of ‘transactional’ US president
At work Peter WalkerWhat is the story of Pat McFadden He says this this morning in response to Donald Trump’s veiled threat that he will withdraw support for NATO if countries like the UK do not help the US in the Gulf.
Trump argued that NATO countries should help the US in the Gulf in exchange for Washington’s support for Ukraine
Here are some more quotes Donald Trump‘s report With Edward Luce of the Financial Times. Trump has implicitly threatened to withdraw his support for NATO if countries such as the United Kingdom do not provide warships to protect oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian attacks. (See 8:57 p.m.) But he also made other points.
We have something called NATO. We were so sweet. We didn’t need to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of kilometers away from us. . . But we helped them. Now we will see if they will help us.
Because I have been saying for a long time that we will be with them, but they will not be with us. And I’m not sure they’ll be there.
Trump has made this argument frequently before, including when he was in Davos in January. In response to what he said at the time, NATO secretary general Mark Rutte said: pointed out Article 5, NATO’s mutual defense clause, was invoked only once after 9/11, leading other NATO countries to assist the United States in Afghanistan.
We hit them very hard. They have nothing to do but cause some trouble in the Bosphorus, but these people are taking advantage of it and they need to help us with this. We will help them. But they need to be there too. You need a lot of people to keep an eye on a few people.
Pat McFadden downplays Trump’s threat to NATO, arguing US alliance is strong enough to ‘outlast’ current problems
Good morning. Keir Starmer He’s holding a press conference in Downing Street this morning. Like Kiran Stacey According to reports, the Prime Minister’s main aim will be to announce support for the people most affected by rising energy prices, especially homeowners who are dependent on heating oil. The measures are expected to be worth tens of millions of pounds.
But inevitably much of the focus will be on how Starmer responds to Donald Trump’s latest provocations.
To recap: Last weekend, Trump rejected the UK position, saying the US didn’t need British support in the Gulf anyway because “we don’t need people fighting wars after we’ve already won them.” This weekend he was asking Britain and other countries to send warships to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open. The government stated that it would not deploy warships but could send minesweepers. Here are some of today’s headlines.
The Guardian’s full story is here.
After talking curiously for a while, Embers He’s now back in threat mode. Briefly Interview with Financial Times He has hinted that he may pull the plug on NATO if countries such as Britain do not deploy warships to protect oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. He said:
It would be appropriate for those who benefit from the Bosphorus to help prevent anything bad from happening there…
If there is no response or a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.
We’ll find out what Starmer has to say about this later, but we’ve already got an answer. Pat McFaddenthe work and pensions secretary, who was on the morning round of interviews. Speaking to Sky News, McFadden downplayed the threat, arguing that the US-UK alliance was strong enough to be “more able to withstand” any problems arising from Trump’s rhetoric. When asked to comment on the quote, he said:
That’s the president right there. The quote you just gave sums it up.
This is a highly transactional presidency, and our job is to lead it, always remembering that the friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom runs deep.
It’s a good relationship. It is permanent and I think it will outlast all the personalities involved.
We will discuss the press conference in detail, but we will not focus only on Iran today; There are other policies around. Here is the agenda of the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer meets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Downing Street.
10.30: Starmer holds his press conference.
11am: Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, held a press conference in which the party said it would be “an important update on the Doge and Reform in local government”.
11.30: Work and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden is giving a speech where he will announce plans for employment grants and apprenticeship promotions for young people.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch visits London.
12.30: Malcolm Offord, Reform UK’s leader in Scotland, attends a Q&A at the Institute of Government.
13.30: Presented by your party’s parliamentary leader, Jeremy Corbyn Findings of the Gaza Tribunal report. As Patrick Wintour reported, the government will be said to be complicit in Israel’s crimes.
14.30: Defense Secretary John Healey answers questions in the House of Commons.
If you would like to contact me, please send a message below the line or send a message on social media during comments open hours (between 10:00 – 15:00). I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful for readers to point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to respond to them all, but I will try to respond as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
