Sir Keir Starmer has issued a surprise slapdown of Donald Trump over his threats against Canada ahead of meeting the Prime Minister in Ottawa. Speaking on his jet to the country for the G7, Sir Keir pointedly described Canada as an “independent sovereign nation”.
The coded rebuke came ahead of Donald Trump’s first visit to the country since calling for the country to become America’s ‘51st state’. The President’s outlandish comments about a former close ally saw Liberal leader Mark Carney pull off a surprise election victory in April, leading his party from a 20 point deficit against his rival Conservatives. Speaking ahead of his meeting with Mark Carney, a former governor of the Bank of England, Sir Keir insisted he will negotiate with the fellow leader of an “independent sovereign country”.
He added: “Canada and the US are our allies. Canada is an independent, sovereign nation, and quite right, too.”
“That’s the basis on which I’ve approached my discussions with all of our partners. I’m not going to get into the precise conversations I’ve had, but let me be absolutely clear: Canada is an independent, sovereign country and a much-valued member of the Commonwealth.”
“And we work closely with Canada on any number of issues, whether that is defence and security – particularly the training in Ukraine, it’s been something where Canada and the U.K. have worked very closely together.
“We’ve got a massive trading agreement … 28 billion pounds worth of trade between the U.K. and Canada as it stands. And one of the things I want to do is to open the door to taking out further, reducing out trade barriers with Canada. So I’m really clear where we stand on that.”
The Prime Minister insisted he still has a “good relationship” with President Trump, which is even more critical in light of events in the Middle East.
Asked if he plans on playing the role of a ‘bridge’ between Europe and America, Sir Keir said: “I think it’s really important for Britain to play a leading part in that, and that’s what I’ll be doing at the G7, talking to all of our partners in a constructive way.”
“And I’m very pleased that I have developed good relations with all the G7 leaders to the point where … I have a very good relations with all of them.”
The Prime Minister will sit down for dinner with Mr Carney in Ottawa this evening before heading off for the G7 in Calgary on Sunday.
As well as the usual invitees, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also been invited to attend by Mr Carney, as have Mexico, India, and Saudi Arabia, the latter of whom’s Crown Prince will not be attending.
