UK Ambassador Claims Israel Is US’s Only Special Relationship

America’s only “special relationship” is probably with Israel and not Great Britain, according to the UK’s new ambassador to Washington.

Christian Turner, who replaced disgraced ex-Labour peer Peter Mandelson in the plum diplomatic role in February this year, was recorded making the controversial remarks shortly after starting in the role.

According to the Financial Times, Turner told a group of UK students visiting Washington: “I think there is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States – and that is probably Israel.”

He made his remarks shortly before Donald Trump and Israel launched joint air strikes on Iran on February 28.

But they appear to have been leaked to coincide with King Charles’s state visit to America and cause maximum embarrassment to Keir Starmer.

Turner said he disliked the phrase “special relationship”, which has been used to describe UK-US ties for decades, saying it is “quite nostalgic, it’s quite backwards-looking, and it has a lot of baggage about it”.

However, Turner insisted the UK’s links to Washington were still “so strong”, adding: “There is a deep history and affinity between us. Particularly on defence and security, we are intertwined.”

The senior diplomat said: “The relationship will carry on, if you want, being ‘special’, but I think it’s going to have to be different.”

Turner said the two countries must “work to redefine” the relationship, particularly when it comes to defence.

He also expressed surprise that the scandal surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had not “touched anybody” in the US, especially after it “brought down” Mandelson and “potentially the prime minister”.

Turner was outspoken about the PM too, admitting he was “on the ropes” earlier this year due to the chaos triggered by Mandelson appointment, and that his future looked “quite touch and go”.

The ambassador speculated that Labour MPs could “remove” him after May’s local elections.

He then claimed Labour Party rules state 80 MPs are needed to oust the PM by publicly signing a letter “which is like signing a death warrant”.

Turner called the Mandelson saga a “crisis”, which “has nearly brought down the government and ended the prime minister’s tenure”.

But he described the interest in Mandelson’s failed security vetting as “a bit of a red herring”.

“The problem was he had a bunch of associations that were embarrassing to him and the government that had not been revealed,” Turner said.

“And, arguably, once they were uncovered, the prime minister moved to sack him.”

Turner also acknowledged that the US legislators have tried to “bring to account some of those senior figures” linked to Epstein, including inviting Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to testify before Congress.

A Foreign Office spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “These were private, informal comments made to a group of UK sixth-form students visiting the US in early February. They are certainly not any reflection of the UK government’s position.”

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.