UK could become Trump’s poodle if it fails to invest in defence, Badenoch warns
Kemi Badenoch has warned against Britain becoming Donald Trump’s “poodle” and vowed to rebuild the country’s defenses if he becomes prime minister amid growing global instability.
The Conservative leader also took aim at Reform UK, saying the party was “afraid to talk seriously about enemy states”.
His comments come at a time of increasing global instability; Donald Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs on Britain and Europe that oppose threats to annex Greenland.
Meanwhile, Ms Badenoch’s party has had a difficult week following Robert Jenrick’s dramatic defection to Reformation.
To talk TelegramMs Badenoch warned England needed to invest in its defense to avoid being seen as weak on the international stage.
“Getting Britain running again means fixing our economy and fixing our country, which means putting our national interests first and rebuilding our defences.
“Otherwise we will be poodles when the US annexes Greenland and face tariffs for not showing any force,” he said.
This comes after Mr Trump used a post on Truth Social to announce that 10 per cent tariffs would come into effect from February 1 in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland.
In his long-winded post, Mr. Trump said those tariffs would rise to 25 percent on June 1 and remain in place until an agreement is reached for the United States to buy Greenland, claiming that both China and Russia want to control Greenland and only the United States can prevent that.
Ms Badenoch also hit out at Mr Jenrick’s “narrow, introverted and performative” departure speech, noting that he made no mention of foreign affairs.
Mr Jenrick used his speech to launch a stunning attack on his former party, saying it had “betrayed its voters and members” and was “in denial or dishonest” about its record.
But the Conservative leader noted that the speech contained “nothing about Russia’s war in Europe, nothing about China’s growing economic and security influence, and nothing about Iran, North Korea, cyber warfare, artificial intelligence or the erosion of the rules-based order.”
“Reform presents itself as rebellious and anti-establishment, but shows no serious concern for national security.
“It’s not just that their leaders in Wales take bribes from Russia, it’s that they’re afraid to talk seriously about enemy states, alliances, defence, intelligence or economic security, and when they’re not afraid they don’t know what to say,” he added.
Taking aim at Sir Keir Starmer’s approach to foreign policy, Ms Badenoch said his “failure on national security is different from Reformation” but “just as dangerous”.
The Prime Minister “speaks in abstractions while allowing Chinese state influence in universities and infrastructure, Chinese intimidation and espionage in British territory, and strategic ambiguity in foreign policy, not the aims of a rules-based framework, but the belief that diplomacy alone will win.”
