Trump suggests UK's Starmer pandering to Muslim voters over Iran reluctance
US President Donald Trump has condemned British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not backing the US-Israeli attack on Iran, suggesting he "could be" pandering to British Muslim voters.
Trump told The Sun newspaper that Britain is "not such a recognisable country" anymore and said the UK should "stop people from coming in from foreign lands who hate you".
Asked if Starmer is "pandering" to Muslim voters, the president said "it could be" the case.
Starmer announced on Sunday night that the US would be allowed to use British bases for the purpose of targeting Iranian missile sites - after having refused to be involved in the US-Israeli strikes when they started on Saturday morning.
Britain initially blocked the US from using the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands to strike Iran, a decision reportedly taken following legal advice from Attorney General Lord Richard Hermer.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
A YouGov poll on Monday showed the British public opposes US military action against Iran by 49 percent to 28 percent.
Fifty percent of the public also oppose the government allowing the US to use British airbases, with only 30 percent supporting the move.
Trump told The Sun: "This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe.”
He said Starmer "has not been helpful", adding: "I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK."
He added: "It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was."
Starmer 'just very different'
Trump praised Nato, and said: "France has been great. They’ve all been great.
“The UK has been much different from others... they’ve all been pretty much great other than…we think Keir’s was just very different.”
Trump said Britain is "not such a recognisable country. I mean, you look at what happened over the last period of time and it’s very different.
"London is a very different place, with a terrible mayor. You have a terrible mayor there, some terrible people. But it’s a very different place."
The US-Israeli attack on Iran is deeply unpopular with the British public, but right-wing opposition figures, including Reform leader Nigel Farage and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, have condemned Starmer for not allowing the US to use British bases for any military action against Iran - rather than restricting their use to Iranian missile sites.
Badenoch also suggested on Monday that Labour's policy is because of Muslim voters in the wake of Labour's defeat by the Greens in the Gorton and Denton by-election last week.
Meanwhile Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey and Green Party leader Zack Polanski urged Starmer to put the UK's decision to allow the US to use its military bases to a vote in Parliament, which did not happen.
Polanski called on Starmer to reverse his decision to grant the US permission to use British bases, calling America a "rogue state".
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
