US Election 2024: Keir Starmer offers ‘hearty congratulations’ to Donald Trump in first call since win

Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to Donald Trump and offered “hearty congratulations” successful their archetypal speech since the president-elect’s predetermination win.

The Prime Minister is seeking to unafraid adjacent ties with Trump amid tensions implicit Labour activists campaigning for his rival and past comments Cabinet ministers person made astir him.

“The Prime Minister offered his hearty congratulations and said helium looked guardant to moving intimately with President-elect Trump crossed each areas of the peculiar relationship.”

The leaders agreed that the US-UK relationship, from defence and information to maturation and prosperity, was “incredibly strong” and “would proceed to thrive for galore years to come”, No 10 said.

“The leaders fondly recalled their gathering successful September and President-elect Trump’s adjacent connections and affinity to the United Kingdom, and looked guardant to moving with 1 another.”

Sir Keir and Foreign Secretary David Lammy had meal with Mr Trump astatine Trump Tower successful New York respective weeks ago.

Since then, the Republican’s run filed a ineligible ailment astir Labour activists backing rival Kamala Harris.

There are besides fears that relations could beryllium strained owed to past comments from elder enactment figures, including Mr Lammy, who antecedently described the Republican person arsenic a “neo-Nazi” sympathiser.

Downing Street connected Wednesday stood by Mr Lammy, saying helium would stay successful station for the remainder of the parliamentary term.

No 10 said Sir Keir reflected connected the concern successful the Middle East and underscored the value of determination stableness successful his speech with Trump connected Wednesday, but determination was nary notation of Ukraine.

The Prime Minister has said the UK’s enactment for Kyiv volition stay “ironclad” amid a deficiency of clarity connected Trump’s plans.

Trump has refused to explicitly accidental if helium wants Ukraine to triumph the warfare with Russia, insisting helium wants the struggle to extremity “in a day” but declining to acceptable retired the specifics of however this would beryllium achieved.

Trump’s proposals to enforce hefty tariffs connected goods imported into America which could deed the UK system and could origin a headache for Sir Keir’s Government, which has conscionable announced a Budget that is banking connected growth.

New Conservative Party person Kemi Badenoch called connected Sir Keir to backmost an invitation for Mr Trump to address Parliament and revive talks connected a UK-US commercialized deal.

Nigel Farage, a longtime protagonist of the president-elect, has said that specified tariffs could beryllium avoided if Sir Keir carries retired nonstop negotiations with Trump and that helium would beryllium “glad to assist” successful “bridging the disagreement that exists betwixt Starmer’s Government and Trump”.

“Britain is truly going to person to rotation retired the reddish carpet for Trump precise quickly. If we don’t, a large accidental volition beryllium squandered,” the Reform UK person wrote successful The Telegraph.