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Lammy speaks with US counterpart about ‘working together’ on security

28 Jan 2025 3 minute read
Photo Jonah Elkowitz

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK and US were “working together” to improve the security of people in the two countries after speaking with new Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Mr Lammy said he spoke to Mr Rubio, the first member of Donald Trump’s Cabinet to be confirmed last week, on a range of issues including the Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and the Middle East.

The call comes after Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump spoke on the phone for the first time since the president came to power.

“The UK and US are working together to make all our citizens safer and more prosperous,” Mr Lammy said on X.

“I look forward to meeting soon as we further strengthen UK-US ties.”

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The Foreign Office said in a statement the two men had discussed their shared links to the Caribbean. The Foreign Secretary has family ties to Guyana and Mr Rubio’s family links to Cuba.

“They both welcomed the opportunity for the UK and the US to work together in alignment to address shared challenges, including the situation in the Middle East, Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, the challenges posed by China and the need for Indo-Pacific security,” the statement said.

US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the two men had discussed “a range of pressing global issues”.

“Both leaders expressed eagerness to begin working together immediately to further our many shared foreign policy objectives,” she said.

“They affirmed the depth of the US-UK special relationship and the crucial nature of our partnership in addressing issues like the conflict in the Middle East, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and China’s malign influence.

“They also heralded joint initiatives, including the Aukus partnership, which promotes a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.”

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy arrives at BBC Broadcasting House in London, to appear on the BBC One current affairs programme, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Picture date: Sunday October 15, 2023. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Despite the reference to shared initiatives, the Chagos Islands deal was not explicitly mentioned in the call, according to both the US and UK accounts of the discussion.

Negotiations about handing to Mauritius the chain of islands – home to a joint US-UK military base – were also not discussed by the leaders during their call.

The talks are seen as a potential early flashpoint in the UK’s relationship with the new American administration because members of Mr Trump’s top team, including Mr Rubio, have voiced concerns about the deal.

Mr Lammy is among the senior UK Government figures who have in the past been highly critical of the returning president.

His description in 2017 when he was an opposition MP of Mr Trump as a “racist and KKK/neo-Nazi sympathiser” has raised concern the relationship with the White House could begin on fraught terms.


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Mab Meirion
Mab Meirion
9 days ago

Politicos of the Caribbean…Both have slagged off Trump so I guess they agree on something…

A.Redman
A.Redman
9 days ago

What an overblown wimp! After his previous comments about Trump and his expensive give away of the Chagos Islands.(did he have any talks with the local population?)
Why didn’t HE mention it ? He is supposed to representing the UK not pursuing his own personal agenda!!!

Why vote
Why vote
9 days ago

How long and hard did the Americans laugh at lammy after the call had ended? Any bets their still laughing.

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