Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he will not give in to pressure from Donald Trump over the future of Greenland, despite threats of trade tariffs.
Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), Starmer said the UK would not yield to threats after the US president warned he could impose 10 per cent tariffs on European countries that oppose his plan to take control of Greenland.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch challenged the prime minister on the issue, saying she agreed with him on standing firm over Greenland. However, she criticised the government’s separate plan to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, arguing that the UK was “giving away territory we own and paying £35bn for the privilege”.
The exchange followed comments from Trump, who recently described the Chagos deal as an “act of great stupidity”. Under the agreement, the UK would transfer sovereignty of the islands but lease back the joint UK-US military base located there. Although the US administration had previously supported the deal, Trump’s remarks marked a change in tone.
Starmer said the US president had previously used different language about the Chagos agreement and suggested the criticism was aimed at pressuring the UK to change its position on Greenland. He stressed that this would not happen.
Greenland and the Chagos Islands, despite being thousands of miles apart, dominated the Commons session. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey urged Starmer to stand up strongly to Trump, while Labour MP Steve Witherden warned that the former US president does not respond to groveling.
After PMQs, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy backed the prime minister, saying it was unacceptable for an ally to threaten tariffs to undermine international agreements or seize another nation’s territory, adding that the UK would not back down on this principle.
Conservative shadow cabinet member Helen Whately said her party supported resisting pressure over Greenland but accused the government of weakening national security through the Chagos deal, saying the Conservatives would not have pursued such an agreement.
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