Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned Donald Trump's comments about British and Nato troops in Afghanistan as “insulting and frankly appalling,” and suggested the US president should apologise. The remarks, made in a Fox News interview, claimed that Nato forces avoided frontlines during the conflict.
Starmer said he was not surprised that families of the 457 British service personnel killed in Afghanistan were hurt by Trump's words. “I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice that they made for their country,” he said on Friday, adding that if he had misspoken in such a way, he would certainly apologise.
The prime minister's intervention marks a further escalation in tensions with the White House, following Trump's earlier criticism of the UK's decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Labour sources insisted a delay in the Chagos Islands bill in the House of Lords was temporary, but it came after Trump called the move a “great act of stupidity.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Trump of “denigrating” British troops, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the president was wrong. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey urged Starmer to summon the US ambassador over the insult. Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK and Nato allies had answered the US call and the war dead should be remembered as heroes.
