Cracks appear in US-UK security co-operation after Trump-Starmer tensions

{"text":[[{"start":12.28,"text":"The first cracks in US-UK security co-operation are appearing as tensions between Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer over Iran shake working relationships between diplomats, officials and military personnel."}],[{"start":27.17,"text":"The US president’s recent public criticism of the UK prime minister — deriding Starmer as “no Winston Churchill” and a leader who has tried to “join wars after we’ve already won” — has already had a chilling effect behind the scenes, according to people familiar with the situation."}],[{"start":45.900000000000006,"text":"Some of this has been a feature since Trump returned to the White House. The handful of American officials seconded to UK government departments are increasingly being asked to leave meetings when sensitive information is discussed, in contrast to a more permissive approach previously, one of the people said."}],[{"start":66.80000000000001,"text":"A more recent element of friction, noted by Washington, is the longer time taken by the UK to approve requests for American aircraft to use British military sites such as RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, the person said. "}],[{"start":81.48000000000002,"text":"In the past these requests had been “rubber-stamped” by the UK but now were “stickier” and “there’s that little bit of extra tension in the system”, the person said."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":93.63000000000002,"text":"Starmer’s reluctance to allow the US to use British bases to launch its initial offensive strikes on Iran became a flashpoint in UK-US relations. "}],[{"start":104.58000000000003,"text":"“Starmer is getting singled out among European leaders for a particular battering by Trump over Iran,” said one former senior British official. “You can see why things might get a bit tense.”"}],[{"start":117.67000000000003,"text":"UK officials insisted there had been no change to UK security policy. They said any proposed US operation from a base in the UK is considered on a case-by-case basis, under the range of national and international treaties under which the US operates in the UK. "}],[{"start":136.95000000000005,"text":"British officials have also had to adjust to a White House operating through a tighter inner circle under Trump during his second presidency. UK diplomats say their traditional channels in Washington have narrowed, with access increasingly dependent on a small group of advisers. "}],[{"start":155.89000000000004,"text":"“Under this administration we see our access to senior political decision makers diminishing, because the people we have access to are having their own access curtailed,” said one person familiar with the exchanges. "}],[{"start":169.97000000000006,"text":"The shift has fuelled unease in London that informal networks and institutional ties — a backbone of the special relationship — are proving less reliable in shaping policy or securing early insight into US decisions."}],[{"start":187.21000000000006,"text":"One UK official strongly disputed the characterisation, however. While all international diplomats were having to contend with Trump’s inner circle, “our embassy is one of the best placed in Washington, with links right into the centre of the system,” the person said, adding that there was a strong day-to-day working relationship between British and American officials."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":211.56000000000006,"text":"Some analysts believe that the historically strong links between British and American officials are now proving less of a “guardrail” to the political tumult between the two nations during Trump’s second term in the White House."}],[{"start":227.10000000000005,"text":"“Chagos is a good example,” said Olivia O’Sullivan, director of the UK in the World programme at Chatham House, citing the UK government’s deal to hand sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius and lease back the island of Diego Garcia, home to a crucial joint UK-US military base."}],[{"start":247.50000000000006,"text":"“Initially the UK government was confident that even if Trump was scathing in public, the US State Department was behind the deal. Lately it’s got to the point where it is trickling down,” she said."}],[{"start":261.14000000000004,"text":"While officials are expected to take their cue from the political leadership, the fragmentation of the Maga movement and the confusion about Washington’s strategic goals in Iran make it difficult for American diplomats and personnel. This in turn “poses questions for UK officials”, O’Sullivan said."}],[{"start":283.47,"text":"Nonetheless, some senior figures remain sceptical about the idea of any deterioration in the bilateral relationship. Lord Peter Ricketts, former UK national security adviser, said operational-level co-operation between military staffs and intelligence exchange appeared to be continuing “pretty much as before”. "}],[{"start":304.92,"text":"He cited the “iceberg principle” that most of the Anglo-American relationship functions out of sight and unaffected by surface turbulence."}],[{"start":314.82,"text":"While conceding that there is “clearly damage to trust” at the political level, Ricketts said daily contacts continued, Americans were still stationed in UK bases and that it was not unusual for either nation to want to hold private discussions without the other side."}],[{"start":332.17,"text":"While Trump has repeatedly heaped censure on Starmer, the prime minister’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell and business adviser Varun Chandra, who is formally the UK special envoy to the US on trade and investment, have strong links into the American administration. "}],[{"start":353.36,"text":"UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper speaks regularly to US secretary of state Marco Rubio, including most recently on the fringes of the G7 foreign ministers meeting near Paris last Friday."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":367.31,"text":"The special relationship has weathered staunch differences of opinion on significant issues in the past."}],[{"start":374.39,"text":"Lord Simon McDonald, a former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, highlighted that the US invasion of Grenada in 1983 and the US raid on Libya in 1986 had both been “controversial in the UK” but had not substantially affected long-term ties."}],[{"start":394.47999999999996,"text":"The UK and US enjoy “the deepest bilateral relationship we have with any country in the world and intelligence, security and defence are at the heart of it”, he said."}],[{"start":405.96999999999997,"text":"British officials are hopeful that a state visit by King Charles III to Washington at the end of April, followed by the Prince and Princess of Wales travelling to the US to attend the football World Cup this summer, may help bolster transatlantic relations, given Trump’s affection for the British royal family."}],[{"start":425.11999999999995,"text":"A UK government spokesperson said: “The US is our principal defence and security partner and we continue deep co-operation in the national interest. This includes the US operating from British bases as they have done for decades.”"}],[{"start":441.2099999999999,"text":"The White House referred a request for comment to the Pentagon."}],[{"start":446.4099999999999,"text":"A Pentagon official said: “The US and the UK have a long-standing, strong defence relationship that has continued even through the present conflict.”"}],[{"start":465.76999999999987,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1774945815_6509.mp3"}