David Lammy’s past comments about Donald Trump ‘a concern’, says ex-spy chief
David Lammy’s previous comments about Donald Trump may be put to one side by the US president-elect because of his strong political mandate, a former spy chief has said.
Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy has drawn scrutiny in recent days for past remarks, including calling Mr Trump a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath”.
Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of MI6, said there was “concern” about the remarks and their impact on UK-US relations.
“Well of course, there’s a lot of baggage there, and that’s a concern, but when foreign secretaries go to Washington, they don’t necessarily see the president,” Sir Richard said.
“Maybe, if they have a good personal relationship, they do see each other, but the relationship can easily be dealt with by other people.
“Maybe Trump, now, because he’s got such a strong political mandate, will put issues like that to one side.”
“Old news”
Mr Lammy has told the BBC’s Newscast his previous comments are “old news”.
The Foreign Secretary also told the podcast he would seek to “get across” to the US that “hurting your closest allies” is not in the president-elect’s interest, amid fears of a looming trade war.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Government is making efforts to smooth over tensions with the incoming president, who has said he wants to increase tariffs on goods imported from around the world by 10%, rising to 60% on items from China.
A UK state visit for the incoming president in the next year is expected to be “a bit of a tall order” as such an event takes time to organise, according to Mr Lammy.
Sir Alex Younger, another former MI6 chief, told broadcasters a Trump presidency could lead to a swift end to the war in Ukraine.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “He will attempt to engineer a rapid solution, but he’s been pulled in two directions.
“There will be a land swap. That is a terrible thing for the people who end up living under Russian rule.
“But fundamentally, it’s not the main argument. The main argument is whether Ukraine is a western or eastern country in future.”
A deal
Sir Alex added: “Trump’s advisers, on the one hand, are saying that Ukraine should be forced into neutrality, so basically back into the bosom of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.
“Others are talking about the need to do a land swap, but then reinforce its military and economic capabilities, and we need to make sure we are compounding that second argument.”
The president-elect has long spoken of his desire for a deal to end the war.
In comments which have worried Europe’s leaders, he has also complained about US tax dollars funding European security and has been highly critical about Nato members not spending enough.
The Prime Minister on Thursday said boosting defence spending to 2.5% “remains the commitment” of the Government, but did not set out a timeline to reach it.
Mr Trump has started to appoint his top team for when he takes over the presidency in January, having picked his campaign co-chairwoman Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
I see nothing wrong with it. Trump will never treat us as equals and since we are out the EU, he will ream the UK (and Ukraine) to his own ends, so why are we saying Lammy is the problem when the problem is Trump.
I would rather we are hands length for the next 4 years and fingers crossed that they have another election and we do not have to suffer that bloated oaf from coming here for a state visit.
I think if Trump were to come to the UK for a state visit he would be called a lot more nasty things than the truths that Lammy has already called him. I’m pretty certain there would also be mass protests. It’s also obscene that there are figures either close to or in the Westminster government who are lackadaisically pronouncing on Ukraine’s future. The only people who can make that kind of decision are the people of Ukraine. The war in Ukraine is still far from unwinnable, all that is required is the political will, and Europe is well able… Read more »
This is such a non-story. JD Vance compared Trump with Hitler and now he’s his vice President.
He could have taken it as a complement…
.. especially as he has German heritage. Wasn’t his dad “Trumpf” before he modified the name to sound less kraut ?
Anyway our politicians who aspire to great things should remember that their freedom to mouth off is a lot more constrained than ours unless they are seeking a reckoning. We can call Trump all sorts of things, as we can pour scorn over Putin, right now I do it mostly to the muppets Starmer and Reeves whose first few months in office have proved that they too are not beyond reproach.
I thought spies were supposed to operate in secret not be just another political media grifter?
You failed to spy the word “former”. Once retired these jokers have books to sell and appearance fees to earn so it’s hard to tuck them back into their boxes.
Cameo appearance to reinforce the official narrative.
When’s the UK going to get over this special relationship stuff and realise the US only has itself at heart? When Cymru becomes independent it will be better off forging a stronger friendship with the EU. The EU itself needs to toughen up and stop relying on the States too. In the future there is likely to be a trade and then hot war at between the US and China, a weak Europe will do us all no good.