Sir Keir Starmer today insisted Europe is ‘strong’ after Donald Trump claimed the continent is home to ‘weak’ leaders and ‘decaying’ nations.
In an astonishing broadside at America’s traditional allies, the US President this week suggested that ‘many’ states in Europe ‘will not be viable countries any longer’.
He also branded immigration policies across Europe ‘a disaster’ and revived his feud with Sir Sadiq Khan by labelling him ‘a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor’.
Sir Keir was challenged about Mr Trump’s view of Europe during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey quizzed the PM about a ‘deeply alarming’ document recently produced by Mr Trump’s administration.
‘President Trump’s new national security strategy is a deeply alarming document,’ Sir Ed said.
‘It repeats far-right tropes of ‘civilisational erasure’ and threatens that the US Government will cultivate resistance in Europe.
‘No wonder Vladimir Putin has welcomed that strategy.’
Sir Keir Starmer today insisted Europe is ‘strong’ after Donald Trump claimed the continent is home to ‘weak’ leaders and ‘decaying’ nations
In an astonishing broadside at America’s traditional allies, the US President this week suggested that ‘many’ states in Europe ‘will not be viable countries any longer’
Sir Ed demanded Sir Keir ‘pick up the phone and make it clear to President Trump that any attempts to interfere with our democracy are totally unacceptable?’
The PM : ‘What I see is a strong Europe, united behind Ukraine.
‘And united behind our long-standing values of freedom and democracy, and I will always stand up for those values and those freedoms.’
After PMQs, Downing Street said the PM believes Mr Trump’s latest criticism of Sir Sadiq is ‘wrong’.
Sir Keir’s press secretary told reporters: ‘Those comments are wrong.
‘The mayor of London is doing an excellent job in London, delivering free school meals in primary schools, cleaning up London’s air with the world’s largest clean air zone and starting record numbers of council houses.
‘The Prime Minister is hugely proud of the Mayor of London’s record and proud to call him a colleague and a friend.’
It came after Peter Kyle, the Business and Trade Secretary, on Tuesday evening had attempted to play down the US President’s dramatic attack on European nations.
‘I’m not sure whether he’s referring to Britain in that, though,’ he told The Sun’s Harry Cole.
‘President Trump has for a long time had a sort of bee in his bonnet, as you say, about Europe and also about the world as it is.
‘He sees the world differently from his predecessors. That is not new.’
The Business and Trade Secretary insisted that Britain and the US working together is ‘something that is incredibly important’ to Mr Trump.
‘I think it matters emotionally as well as economically and that’s why we had so many successes,’ he said.
‘Because the partnership between the Prime Minister and him is not a likely friendship, but it is certainly a relationship that has delivered for both countries.’
Mr Trump also renewed his feud with Sir Sadiq Khan by labelling him ‘a horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor’
Meanwhile, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy hit back at Mr Trump’s latest tirade against Sir Sadiq.
‘I strongly disagree with those comments,’ she told Sky News.
‘Sadiq is doing a really good job and has been at the forefront of providing affordable housing, improvements to transport.
‘Transport in London, I say this as someone who lives in the North of England, we would love to have some of the transport infrastructure that Sadiq has overseen.
‘He has been one of the people who has set up multi-agency approaches to help young people with knife crime, gang violence, that we are learning from in Government.’
Ms Nandy said the US President was ‘wrong’ in his views on Sir Sadiq, adding that Sir Keir would disagree with Mr Trump’s accusations.
‘Sadiq is doing an incredibly good job for London, we are proud of our mayors,’ she added.
In a speech on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper countered Mr Trump’s claims that European nations are ‘decaying’ and have ‘weak’ leaders.
‘What I see in Europe is strength,’ she said.
‘The strength and commitment to the support for Ukraine and also strength to step up to the plate and to ensure that we are increasing our investment in defence.
‘And also ensure that we are doing our bit through the coalition of the willing, as well as through investment in military support and the energy infrastructure support that Ukraine needs.’
Ms Cooper also defended Sir Sadiq, saying: ‘When it comes to the mayor of London, you will not be surprised that I of course take a strongly different view.
‘I think the mayor is doing an excellent job for all of London.’
Mr Trump claimed Sir Sadiq had ‘done a terrible job’ during his nine years in charge of the UK’s capital and claimed London was now ‘a different place’.
But the London mayor said: ‘I think the one part that President Trump has got right is that London is becoming a different place. We are the greatest city in the world.
‘I suspect that’s one of the reasons why we have record numbers of Americans coming here to holiday, coming here to live, coming here to invest, or coming here to study.
‘I literally have no idea why President Trump is so obsessed with this mayor of London.
‘I’m not sure what he’s got against a liberal, progressive, diverse, successful city like London.’
