The UK should “completely forget” the idea of a special relationship with the US and can “no longer rely” on Washington as an ally, a former national security adviser, Lord Peter Ricketts, has warned.
Sir Keir Starmer’s relationship with Donald Trump has soured in recent weeks, as the US president repeatedly criticised the prime minister over his response to the war on Iran.
Mr Trump’s public remarks have highlighted his increasingly strained relationship with the prime minister, and have now raised questions over Britain’s diplomatic ties to America.
Lord Ricketts said the war in the Middle East had been a “huge wake-up call” for Britain, and warned the government must now “completely forget” the idea of a special relationship between the UK and US.
“The idea of a special relationship we should now completely forget. It’s a transactional relationship with Washington as with every other country,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He said that while he believes officials behind the scenes will still be working together, relations at the top level have been “incredibly difficult and choppy”.
“I think we do have to rethink the idea that the US is a reliable, trustworthy ally on which we can depend in the longer term,” he said.
“We’ve got to get closer to the Europeans, we’ve got to work out how we live in a world where American interest has moved away from Europe and we can no longer rely on the kind of relationship we’ve had with America for my 50 years of involvement in foreign affairs.”
The relationship between Sir Keir and Mr Trump has grown increasingly strained in recent weeks, following a barrage of scathing remarks made by the US president in response to the UK’s refusal to become involved in his offensive operations against Iran.
His comments come after President Trump likened Sir Keir to Neville Chamberlain at a White House Easter event on Monday, telling reporters the UK had “a long way to go”.
He said: “We won’t want another Neville Chamberlain, do we agree? We don’t want Neville Chamberlain.”
Last week, he mimicked the prime minister in a speech at the White House, and recounted Sir Keir saying he had to ask his team about sending “two old broken-down aircraft carriers” to the Middle East, and last month he made another jibe about him, saying he was not dealing with Winston Churchill.
The UK previously granted the US permission to use British military bases including Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites.
But Sir Keir has so far not bowed to US pressure, refusing to get directly involved with offensive US strikes.
Former foreign secretary Sir James Cleverly said on Wednesday that Mr Trump “does not respect Keir Starmer” and also warned the UK-US relationship is “damaged”.
“It’s quite clear now that President Trump does not respect Keir Starmer at all,” he told GB News.
“I mean, Keir Starmer was sycophantic initially, waving around that offer of a state visit almost immediately. He did not show strength.
“He was shown to be indecisive, as I say, sycophantic, desperately trying to win favour with the US president when he went to America, then came back to the UK to try and sound tough at the despatch box.
“And the thing is, you can’t talk out of both sides of your mouth at the same time. The US has seen that.
“His personal relationship with the president of the US, I think, is now beyond repair.”
The prime minister is travelling to the Gulf on Wednesday (8 April) to meet allies in the region and discuss diplomatic efforts to “support and uphold” the fresh ceasefire deal between the US and Iran.
Donald Trump announced the conditional two-week ceasefire in a social media post at around midnight, following his threats to destroy Iranian civilian infrastructure if a deal was not reached by Tuesday night.
The prime minister welcomed the news of the agreement between Washington and Tehran, saying it will “bring a moment of relief to the region and the world”.