“Congratulations President-elect Trump on your historic election victory. I look forward to working with you in the years ahead.
“As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.
“From growth and security to innovation and tech, I know that the UK-US special relationship will continue to prosper on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come.”
With these grovelling words, Keir Starmer welcomed the second presidency of Mr. Donald J. Trump.
So desperate was the UK Prime Minister to pledge loyalty to his new master, that he scrambled to be one of the first world leaders to congratulate Trump, alongside his dear friend Benjamin Netanyahu.
Foreign secretary David Lammy’s statement was no less nauseating. Long gone are the days when Lammy labelled Trump a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath”. A lot can change once you get a sweet taste of power!
Re: Daily Mail story today. Yes, if Trump comes to the UK I will be out protesting on the streets. He is a racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) September 26, 2017
It’s no secret that this was not the desired outcome of the Labour leaders, the British ruling class, nor their European counterparts. Far from it.
Just like the majority of the US establishment, they were all hoping that the ‘sensible’ Democrats would clinch victory from the jaws of defeat.
For them, these election results are an unmitigated disaster. Trump’s presidency will lob a grenade into the delicate, fractious balance of world relations.
And poor old Britain, straddling its sore legs across the Atlantic, is going to be forced to contort itself even further on the world stage.
Special relationship
The much-vaunted ‘special relationship’ between the US and the UK is a very one-sided affair.
For American imperialism, Britain is rightly seen as a rather inconsequential second-rate power – one that is useful from time to time for diplomatic affairs and European relations, but not much else.
For British imperialism, however, America is everything. It’s not for nothing that Britain is often labelled America’s ‘51st state’.
The US is Britain’s number one trading and investment partner, amounting to one fifth of UK exports and more than one third of foreign direct investment. To put the latter into perspective, that’s more than the 27 EU member states combined.
What’s more, Britain’s puny military is reliant on the US war machine. The Pentagon effectively runs Britain’s nuclear deterrent programme.
Given the long and drastic decline of British imperialism – which can no longer play any independent role on the world stage – Uncle Sam calls the shots, regardless of who sits in the White House.
Trade wars
A second Trump term is going to put Starmer’s government in an extremely uncomfortable position.
As part of his ‘America First’ policy, Trump wants to ramp up import tariffs across the board, in a bid to protect the US economy against its competitors – be they Chinese, European, or British.
This will have a disastrous impact upon the UK economy. One think-tank has forecast that Trump’s tariffs could halve Britain’s growth, and push up inflation by an extra 3-4 percentage points.
Nor does this augur well for the elusive post-Brexit UK-US free trade deal that Britain so desperately needs.
Trump is reportedly more open to signing such a deal than Biden. But it would come with a price. Trump has mastered the ‘art of the deal’, after all.
We can expect that the President-elect will demand that the NHS is carved up for American investors; that regulations around food and animal welfare standards are slashed; and so on.
While Labour’s health secretary Wes Streeting will no doubt be salivating at the prospect of accelerated privatisation, such policies would heap yet more resentment upon Starmer’s hated government.
And that’s if a trade deal is signed, which may not even happen.
In any case, Britain is no longer the vital bridge between European and American markets that it once touted itself as.
With a US trade deal pushed into the indefinite future, and trade with Europe continuing to haemorrhage after Brexit, the ailing UK economy increasingly resembles a punctured dinghy, cut adrift in the choppy Atlantic.
And with Trump’s trade wars effectively throwing sawdust into the gears of world trade, Britain’s exposed economy is set to be battered even more by the global crisis.
Ukraine
Turning from trade wars to military wars, Trump’s stance on Ukraine will also make things awkward for Labour.
The President-elect has repeatedly pledged to bring about a speedy peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, whatever the cost, and has even threatened to pull funding for Zelensky’s war effort.
Trump has also made clear that the cost of any post-war settlement and reconstruction of Ukraine must be borne by the European powers, not the US.
The governments of both Britain and Europe have spent billions on military aid, damaged their economies by cutting off Russian energy, and provoked a lot of public anger in the process.
All of this was done with the promise that the US would support Ukraine ‘til the bitter end’. And now Trump is ready to call it quits, sue for peace, and make his ‘allies’ pick up the tab! Both Britain and Europe will be left with egg on their faces if this transpires.
Up until now, Starmer, Lammy, and co. – following the lead of their Tory predecessors – have been among the most virulent pro-Kyiv headbangers.
An abrupt about-face would be a huge public embarrassment for the British government, whose cries of ‘Slava Ukraini!’ as they pledged billions for bloodshed will suddenly have been all for nought.
At the same time, Trump’s threats to cut US spending on NATO may force the UK and other powers to lavish even more money on bombs, while British infrastructure and services crumble.
Unpopularity
Only 18 percent of Britons favoured Trump’s victory in the US election. He is despised by the majority of workers and young people in Britain for his bigotry, xenophobia, and downright buffoonery.
And now – as if watching Starmer bend over backwards for Netanyahu wasn’t revolting enough – we are going to be forced to imbibe the spectacle of Labour rolling out the red carpet for another right-wing reactionary.
Let’s remember that, back in 2018, one of the biggest demonstrations in decades took place in London in response to a state visit by Trump.
That same underlying anger has gone nowhere. In fact, the events of the past six years have radicalised millions like never before.
The chaotic twists and turns of US politics in the coming years will all have deep ramifications for the whole of the world, and thereby on the already crisis-ridden situation in Britain.
With divorce ruled out, this ‘special relationship’ is about to go south.
