LORD Richard Dannatt has said that the Prime Minister’s initial refusal to allow the US military aircraft to use British air bases has “ruined” the special relationship between the two countries.
He told the Camilla Tominey Show on GB News: “Keir Starmer in trying to do what he thought in his own mind was the right thing, actually missed the major point in regard to our relationship with the United States, we have to think about not just about today, but about tomorrow.
“Our relationship with the United States has been extraordinarily important to the security of ourselves, this country, and also to the security of Europe, and by not allowing on narrow grounds, the Americans to use the base of Diego Garcia and the bases in this country, it disappointed them.
“It hacked them off in a major way at a time when they needed support, and whether or not that was narrowly the right thing for Keir Starmer to decide to do, it’s ruined our relationship for the future with the United States.
“And when, in his last Truth Social post, he said, Trump said, we will remember. Well, it is so frustrating, because America is an important ally of ours. They need us. We need them. And Keir Starmer standing on a narrow legal point has ruined that relationship.”
Asked if he thought it would make the USA less likely to back the UK in the future, he said: “Well, one hopes not. But of course, it’s a symptom of the wider view that Donald Trump has, part of which I agree with, and that is his judgement that Europe must stand more strongly on its own feet in terms of collective defence and not rely on the American nuclear umbrella and under the American conventional umbrella.
“So on that wider point, he’s right that Europe needs to do more, particularly in the context of European security and the war in Ukraine and so on and so forth. But it goes back to my original point, making a decision on a narrow point about an immediate issue without thinking about the wider term implications was a bad bit of statesmanship and Keir Starmer is going to have to reflect on that.”
He added: “The whole issue of HMS Dragon and now the issue of whether or not they might send the aircraft carrier Prince of Wales, this really just illustrates the dire state of our defence capability.
“That, as we all know, for the last 30-odd years, since the end of the Cold War, successive governments from all political parties have hollowed out defence. They’ve taken peace dividend after peace dividend.
“And now, when you come to a serious issue, a crisis moment like this, the risks have come home to roost, and the fact that we can’t send just one of our type 45 air defence destroyers on an important mission really speaks volumes.
“The current government and previous government, they should hang their heads in shame. They’ve known the security threats, both in the Middle East, particularly in Europe, and have spoken words, but have not backed back those words up with deeds.
“Even now, going back to January in the Munich Security Conference, when Keir Starmer talked about moving to 3% of GDP by the end of this Parliament, there’s been no movement in that direction, no steps taken by the Chancellor, it’s just words. And frankly, words don’t buy you the military capability that we need to deter further aggression and secure our own people and our own infrastructure and our land.”
