US engaging in ‘extreme rightwing tropes’ reminiscent of 1930s, British MPs warn | UK news
British MPs warned ministers on Thursday; The US is engaging in “far-right tropes” echoing the 1930s and threatening “chilling” intervention in European democracies.
The House of Commons considered Donald Trump’s national security strategy, which stated that Europe faced “the erasure of civilisation” and vowed to help the continent “correct its current course and support patriotic European parties”.
Matt Western, a Labor MP and chairman of parliament’s joint committee on the UK government’s national security strategy, warned: “The US consensus that has guided the Western world since the second world war appears to be in tatters.”
“I believe the prospect of the United States interfering in the democratic politics of Europe is chilling,” Western said, adding: “The lack of condemnation of Russia is extraordinary, if not surprising.” He warned that the US course “leaves the UK particularly vulnerable”.
Labor MP and chairman of the business select committee, Liam Byrne, said it was “not difficult to see the rhymes with some far-right tropes that date back to the 1930s” and called for closer defense cooperation with Europe.
Keir Starmer and his ministers have been careful not to criticize Trump and have sought to downplay the implications of the strategy document.
Foreign minister Seema Malhotra repeatedly stressed on Thursday that the US “remains a strong, reliable and vital ally for the UK” and that ministers agreed on some aspects of the strategy “such as the importance of maintaining freedom and security”.
He told the House of Commons that “in some areas” the UK government “has a different view” from the US, including the strength of Europe and the value of multiculturalism.
“What we are seeing is a strong Europe coming together to defend Ukraine, with the United Kingdom leading a voluntary coalition of more than 30 countries,” he said, adding that European countries were “increasing defense spending”.
Liberal Democrat MP Bobby Dean said the strategy “is a document based on racist, white supremacist ideology and should be announced accordingly” and argued that “a slight disagreement is not going to cut it”.
Malhotra, invited by Dean to condemn the strategy’s language, said he disagreed with its narrative about the erasure of civilization.
“I’m proud of our country. I know immigration is an important element of Britain’s national story,” he said. “We are a thriving, multicultural society and I am proud of that, and we will defend our values in the UK and around the world.”
Another Liberal Democrat MP, James MacCleary, said the strategy presented a “bleak and dystopian vision of the world” that prioritized “interference in Europe’s democratic processes to promote a particular ideology and worldview”.
Shadow Cabinet Secretary Mike Wood said the strategy “makes it even more important that the UK remains the cornerstone of European and global defence”.
Malhotra has repeatedly insisted that the United States must determine its own strategy and that “friends and allies must respect each other’s choices and traditions.”
The US strategy, announced last Friday, calls for an end to mass migration and criticizes European policies on the issue for “creating strife”. It was stated that European countries were mired in “censorship of freedom of expression” and “loss of national identity and self-confidence”.
“It is far from clear whether some European countries will have strong enough economies and militaries to remain reliable allies,” the document said. The Russian government welcomed the document and said it was “largely consistent” with its vision.
Trump continued to attack European leaders in an interview this week, accusing them of failing to control immigration and suggesting that European countries “can no longer be livable countries” unless changes are made to border policies.
“I think they’re weak, but I also think they want to be politically correct… I think they don’t know what to do,” he told Politico podcast The Conversation.
