Britain's new ambassador to the United States, Christian Turner, has sparked controversy after leaked remarks suggested that the only special relationship America has is with Israel, and that the scandal over his predecessor Peter Mandelson almost ended Prime Minister Keir Starmer's tenure.
According to comments from February, published by the Financial Times, Mr Turner said he disliked the phrase 'special relationship' to describe UK-US ties, calling it 'quite nostalgic, quite backwards-looking, and having a lot of baggage about it.' He added: 'I think there is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States — and that is probably Israel.' However, he acknowledged the deep history and affinity between the UK and US, particularly on defence and security.
The remarks have been made public at a sensitive time, with US-UK relations already strained over the Iran war fallout and King Charles on the second day of a historic state visit to America. The Foreign Office said the comments were 'private, informal' and made at an event with UK students in early February, stressing they are not a reflection of the UK Government's position.
In the leaked recording, Mr Turner also described the saga over Lord Mandelson's appointment as a crisis that 'has nearly brought down the government and ended the Prime Minister's tenure.' He discussed the Labour Party rulebook threshold to remove a Prime Minister, noting that 80 MPs must sign a letter publicly, which is 'like signing your death warrant.' He suggested that if Labour performs badly in the May elections, the party might move to remove Starmer, but if they do OK, he might continue.
A Foreign Office spokesman reiterated that the comments were private and informal, made to a group of UK sixth-form students, and do not reflect the government's position.
