MPs from across the political spectrum have attacked UK ministers for failing to criticise Donald Trump's raid on Venezuela, amid concerns the government is prioritising relations with Washington over international law.
In the House of Commons on Monday, Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs rounded on Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Prime Minister Keir Starmer for their cautious response to the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Labour MP Emily Thornberry, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, called the operation "a breach of international law" and urged the government to condemn it.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said Maduro was a "brutal, illegitimate dictator" but that did not give President Trump "a free pass for illegal action". Former Conservative foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt warned that failing to face down US threats could risk the future of NATO, particularly over suggestions the US might annex Greenland.
Starmer said he wanted to establish the facts before passing judgment, while Cooper told MPs she had stressed the importance of international law in conversations with US counterpart Marco Rubio but declined to say whether she viewed the US action as illegal. The prime minister did, however, defend Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland, saying its future was for Denmark and Greenland alone.
