Keir Starmer has toughened his rhetoric against Donald Trump, accusing the US president of deliberately undermining the UK's position on Greenland by reversing his support for the Chagos Islands deal. Speaking at prime minister's questions, Mr Starmer said Mr Trump's comments were intended to put pressure on him to yield over the future of the vast Arctic territory.
In an angry exchange with Kemi Badenoch, the prime minister condemned the Conservative leader for adopting Mr Trump's words, saying she had chosen "naked opportunism over the national interest". He said he had understood her to support the government's stance on Greenland, but she now appeared to back remarks designed to weaken that position.
Mr Trump had earlier described the UK's plan to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as an act of "great stupidity", insisting the deal threatened the vital US military base on Diego Garcia. He linked the issue to his demands for the US to take control of Greenland, saying the UK's actions were another reason why the island had to be acquired.
Mr Starmer has already condemned Mr Trump's threat to impose escalating trade tariffs on eight European nations, including the UK, if they refused his demand that the US be allowed to take control of Greenland. He said on Wednesday that direct retaliation would be a mistake, but his language was notably more pointed than his usual approach of seeking to cajole the US president.
Speaking in Davos, Nigel Farage said Greenland's sovereignty should be respected, but argued the world would be a "better, more secure place" if the US took over the territory. He cited geopolitics of the high north, retreating ice caps and Russian and Chinese activity, while insisting the principle of national self-determination must be upheld.
