Letter: How could there be a trans-Atlantic special relationship between US and UK when Starmer and Trump are ideologically at variance?
A letter from David Fleming:
In the wake of US president Donald Trump's visit to Britain there is a question to be asked – is there a special relationship between the two countries?
There are strategic alliances militarily and economically with a huge American presence in the UK, but there have been times when the USA has sat on the fence in past British conflicts.
Two come to mind - the first one being the Suez conflict when the PM, Sir Anthony Eden, was left isolated. Secondly, PM Margaret Thatcher couldn't secure unequivocal backing from US president Ronald Reagan over the Falklands crisis.
Back to the present. Donald Trump has so far not pressurised Sir Keir Starmer into a U-turn on the Chagos Islands. It could be he feels he's wasting his time! Now Britain could be left defending itself in the event of a Russian attack according to a leaked Pentagon document, prioritising defending US soil.
For years, America has considered Europe to be not pulling its weight on Nato. How could there be a trans-Atlantic special relationship between the two countries when Starmer and Trump are ideologically at variance?
The status behind the US president's state visit is the Royal Family, held in high esteem in the USA, not a struggling British PM, and the beneficiary will be president Trump, which I welcome.
David Fleming, Norfolk