So much for the ‘special relationship’! Ed Miliband becomes Britain’s top diplomat despite having branded Trump a ‘racist and misogynist’ and after he blocked strikes against Syria
Ed Miliband may face a few awkward encounters in his new role as Britain’s top diplomat after previously making an explosive speech about Donald Trump.
His promotion to Foreign Secretary under new Prime Minister Andy Burnham will see Mr Miliband tasked with repairing Britain’s fraying ‘Special Relationship’ with the US.
But there will be concerns that undiplomatic comments Mr Miliband has made about Mr Trump in the past will complicate the effort to stabilize transatlantic relations.
Mr Miliband branded the US President a ‘racist’ and ‘misogynist’ in 2018 and claimed he had a ‘strange relationship with Russia’.
She also used an interview with GQ magazine to condemn Mr Trump’s ‘very frightening authoritarian tendencies’ and vowed to join protests against him visiting the UK.
Eight years later, Mr Miliband was appointed as the Government’s lead figure in managing Britain’s relations with Mr Trump’s administration.
Concerns about Mr Miliband’s suitability for the post of Foreign Secretary once held by his brother David also stem from his foreign policy stance when he was Labor leader.
In 2013, Mr Miliband instructed Labor MPs to vote against then Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan for military action against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Ed Miliband may face a few awkward encounters in his new role as Britain’s top diplomat after previously making an explosive speech about Donald Trump.
Mr Miliband branded the US President a ‘racist’ and ‘misogynist’ in 2018 and claimed he had a ‘strange relationship with Russia’.
The Cameron government wanted to attack Syria following reports that Assad was using chemical weapons against his own citizens.
But as Opposition Leader, Mr Miliband helped defeat a motion in the House of Commons to join the US-led strikes.
The failure of the House of Commons to support military action later led then-US President Barack Obama to abandon plans to punish the Assad regime.
In 2024, after Assad fled to Russia after rebel forces ended decades of brutal rule, Miliband said he did not regret voting to block an attack on Syria.
He told the BBC: ‘After what happened in Iraq, where hundreds of British soldiers died and thousands were injured, I believe we cannot deploy British military forces without a clear plan.
‘As for the question of whether this will spell the end of Assad, the truth is that Donald Trump bombed Assad in 2017 and 2018, and it didn’t spell the end of Assad.
‘I welcome the fall of a brutal dictator… but people who say that if we had taken military action he would have somehow fallen, frankly I don’t believe it.’
Mr Miliband was promoted to Foreign Secretary after serving as Energy Secretary under Keir Starmer.
But it is seen as a consolation prize for Mr Miliband after Mr Burnham was heavily tipped to be chosen as Chancellor.
Last year it was reported that Mr Miliband was among the cabinet ministers who pushed Sir Keir to officially recognize the state of Palestine.
He was attacked by the Conservatives for ‘smearing’ China during their push for green energy while he was in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
In a speech earlier this year, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Miliband of leaving the UK ‘completely dependent on China for our future energy supplies’.
‘The reality of Miliband’s ‘green future’ is Chinese-made solar panels, Chinese-made wind turbines and Chinese-made lithium batteries,’ he added.
It was recently revealed that senior officials in Mr Trump’s administration had privately warned that appointing Mr Miliband as Chancellor would be a ‘mistake’.
Senior US officials have reportedly told senior Labor officials they are concerned about Mr Miliband’s opposition to new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
Mr Trump has frequently publicly criticized the UK Government for its stance on fossil fuels.
Following his appointment to head the Foreign Office on Monday, Mr Miliband said his new department would be ‘at the forefront of issues that pose deep and significant threats to justice and equality in the UK and around the world’ under his direction.
‘I will be a Foreign Secretary who fights for Britain’s interests and our values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law on the world stage,’ he added.
Mr Miliband vowed to maintain close relations with both the EU and the US, as well as honor Britain’s commitments to NATO and the UN.
But Priti Patel, the Tory shadow foreign secretary, said: ‘In the two short years since Labor took office, Ed Miliband has become Labour’s third Foreign Secretary.
‘During this period, Britain’s position in the world has declined, our allies have been disappointed and Britain has remained weak in the face of serious threats to our security.
‘Like his two Labor predecessors, Miliband bowed to China and failed to defend our interests in the Middle East.
‘We are now set for more of the same foreign policy humiliations, including Burnham and Miliband backing Labour’s £35bn Chagos capitulation and more of our tax dollars paying for climate change plans abroad.
‘Under Labor, Miliband will continue to fly the white flag of surrender rather than proudly flying the Union Flag.’
