Starmer strong man act falls flat

UK PM Keir Starmer gave his best attempt to tell Trump off in the House of Commons. This comes in response to Trump’s recent jab at the British government’s supposed delay to jump on board with the war in Iran. Trump said that Starmer “took far too long” to allow the US military to use a UK base in Cyprus.

Of course, just hours after Starmer publicly announced that permission had been granted, the base was attacked in retaliation for facilitating the US invasion of Iran. And, it must be noted, this is a war which many ex-military officials in the US have already labelled “illegal.”

So, when Starmer’s ‘rebuke’ of Trump did come, it fell rather flat.

Starmer strong man act falls flat

Stating that the US President has ‘expressed his disagreement’ with the UK, the weak PM attempted to look strong by justifying his decision as one of British national interest. Starmer said:

The lessons of history have taught us that it is important when we make decisions like this, that we establish there is a lawful basis for what the United Kingdom is doing.

That is one of the lessons from Iraq, and that there’s a viable thought-through plan with an objective that can be achieved or has a viable prospect of being achieved.

He continued:

This government does not believe in regime change from the skies.

But, it does believe in assisting US-led regime change via supplying airbases?

This belated ‘strong man’ impression offered by Starmer has been received as the damp squib it is. After all, the human rights barrister-turned-leader has had no problem supporting his allies in their numerous war crimes. He has been perfectly happy shielding war criminals responsible for a genocide against Palestinians.

Pressure from MAGA

However, this bravado exposes how impossible it is to have a diplomatic relationship with the demagogue US President. It is well known how Trump uses economic and military warfare to get his own way, highlighting the terrifying precedent being set by the rogue president for ‘diplomacy’.

Now our government is under pressure by the MAGA administration to get involved with their illegal war on Iran, it is more important than ever that we demand a divergence from the US. It cannot be understated that this aggression threatens chaos and suffering across the region, a chaos will undoubtedly and deservedly reach our shores.

It’s clear Starmer is going to great pains to differentiate between offensive and defensive military actions. But, the fact the UK is involved at all makes Starmer’s so-called ‘challenge’ to Trump look pathetic.

Iran has the right to retaliate under international law to threats posed against its sovereign territory. With our diplomatic cover and spineless behaviour, the UK is supporting the existential threat Iran faces from the US and Israel. Ignoring that, the UK Prime Minister appears to apply international law selectively – invoking and interpreting it in ways that shield the United States and Israel from accountability.

“Special relationship” under strain

Like a child throwing his toys out of the pram as per usual, Trump has already retaliated. He stated today that our relationship is now strained, indicating the cost that comes through legitimising Trump’s rogue, illegal and escalating decisions:

Our own Joe Glenton wrote in February about just how occupied we are by the US, signaling the tightrope and danger we are in if Trump is allowed to keep ignoring the rule of law. He wrote:

The UK is even more of a US military colony than we thought. New documents found in the US War Department’s website show that Britain hosts double the number of American military facilities previously reported.

Glenton finished with a vital rallying cry:

The truth is that Britain is a vassal state and colony of the United States. We say the UK would better off if it was not. US bases, troops and spies need to go.

Ordinary people thankfully can recognise legality better than our barrister PM. One X account commented on Starmer’s woefully manipulative speech, pointing out the legally obvious:

I’m just gonna leave this here.

UN Charter:
“Under international law, the UK can be held responsible if it permits its territory to be used by another state to commit an “internationally wrongful act” (such as an illegal war) if it has knowledge of the circumstances.”

It’s hard to believe Starmer doesn’t know this is illegal, especially due to his maneuvering and apparent discomfort with involvement in offensive actions. Maybe the UK PM is only happy with one illegal bombing campaign at a time, having been complicit in the genocide and heavily funded by the Israel lobby. Needless to say, his pushback to Trump is really just semantics and wordplay.

Curtis Daly pointed out on X just how easy this decision should have been:

Careful the company you keep, Starmer

This horrific war of aggression that has already killed hundreds of Iranians and wounded hundreds more has to be the wake-up call for allies of the US. The US is falling, it is in its final days after repeatedly decimating any respect previously afforded to it. It being allowed to maintain control of the world order will put all countries on the backfoot, whilst prioritising the interests that Trump serves: the super-rich and powerful.

This aggressive US world order will undoubtedly escalate, and it has never been more objectively clear that a thug sits in the White House. If we don’t want Trump’s angry, bloodthirsty glare to fall on the UK we must urge our spineless PM to actually object to the US and Israel’s unaccountable war on Iran.

Featured image via the Canary