Starmer declines to address advice to repair relationship with Elon Musk

Sir Keir Starmer has declined to accidental whether helium would travel the proposal of adjacent Labour state Lord Mandelson and extremity a feud with US businessman Elon Musk.

Senior Labour fig Lord Mandelson besides urged the Prime Minister to usage Reform UK person Nigel Farage arsenic “a bridgehead, some to President Trump and to Elon Musk and others”.

The Prime Minister and his squad person attempted to physique links with Mr Trump up of his instrumentality to the US presidency successful January, but past remarks by his Foreign Secretary David Lammy captious of the soon-to-be president person proved a root of embarrassment.

Mr Musk has meantime done conflict with the Government via X, the societal media tract helium owns antecedently known arsenic Twitter.

Only connected Monday did helium picture the UK arsenic “going afloat Stalin” due to the fact that of the Government’s reforms to inheritance taxation for farmers.

Asked astatine the G20 acme successful Brazil whether helium would travel proposal from Lord Mandelson to cease the feuding, the Prime Minister said: “I marque nary remark astir appointments.

“In narration to relations with the US, evidently it is an important narration for us.

“Historically the US-UK narration has been a peculiar narration for a reason, forged successful hard circumstances and arsenic important contiguous arsenic it has ever been.

You cannot conscionable proceed this feud indefinitely. You've got to get implicit it

Lord Mandelson

“In forging that narration I person evidently spent clip with President-elect Trump backmost successful September erstwhile I was successful New York and we had meal together, and past spoken to him connected the phone.

“I deliberation that is close successful presumption of gathering a narration arsenic we spell forward.”

Labour adjacent Lord Mandelson, who is wide tipped to beryllium the UK’s adjacent ambassador to Washington, was speaking connected the Times podcast How To Win An Election erstwhile helium offered the proposal to Sir Keir.

He described it arsenic “unwise” for the UK to disregard Mr Musk, adding: “If I were the Government here, I’d beryllium asking the embassy successful Washington DC to find retired who his different British friends are. Who are they all? And they’ve got to beryllium used, I think, arsenic a span to Musk. And truthful that’s what I would do.

“You know, swallow your pride, find retired who his friends are and effort and get into those networks. You cannot conscionable proceed this feud indefinitely. You’ve got to get implicit it.

“You’ve got to, he’s got to beryllium reintroduced to the British Government.

“And 1 bully mode of doing that mightiness beryllium done immoderate of his British friends, adjacent if they are not, arsenic I say, you know, agleam reddish supporters of the Labour Government.”

Asked if this could see Mr Farage, the Labour adjacent said: “Yes, I would see Nigel Farage. I mean, you can’t disregard him. I mean, he’s an elected Member of Parliament.

“He’s a nationalist figure. He’s a bridgehead, some to President Trump and to Elon Musk and others. You’ve got to beryllium pragmatic, applicable astir this.”

Elsewhere, the president-elect’s lad Eric Trump told the PA quality bureau that past comments by Mr Lammy – who erstwhile called Donald Trump a “racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser” – were “foolish”.

But the businessman told PA his begetter was “a bigger idiosyncratic than they are”, and claimed “a large commercialized statement tin beryllium reached” betwixt the UK and United States.