Vance infuriates the proud Brits

British Prime Minister Starmer does not want to burn bridges with the USA and is holding back on criticism. But now a statement by Trump's Vice President Vance is causing anger.

It is about a statement by US Vice President JD Vance on the American television channel Fox News, which is now causing outrage in Great Britain:
"The best security guarantee for Ukraine is to give the Americans economic participation, instead of sending 20,000 troops from some country that has not been at war for 30 or 40 years,"
the Republican told the Trump-affiliated channel.

Vance did not mention France or Great Britain directly. But it is these two countries that had most clearly signaled their willingness to take part in a peace mission in Ukraine. Even though Vance denied alluding to the British, there was great outrage. The fact that Prime Minister Keir Starmer began the question time in Parliament with the following words of all things should be understood as a polite response to Vance: "Tomorrow it will be 13 years since six young British soldiers were on patrol in Afghanistan when their vehicle was hit by an explosive device and they all tragically lost their lives."

642 Britons died in Afghanistan and Iraq "while fighting alongside our allies," Starmer continued. "We will never forget their courage. And I am sure that the whole of Parliament will remember them with me and all those who serve our country.
"The allies - that also means the USA, on whose side Great Britain did indeed wage war from the early 2000s.

The MPs also had something to say: "Can the Prime Minister remind the US government that we were there for them after September 11th? That they remember our long friendship?" asked one. Starmer replied that they remember the role that the British had played for their allies in history.
So far, Starmer had always been reassuring and stressed that the USA remained a reliable partner.
Former Labour politician Jim Murphy explained on BBC television why the Prime Minister was being so cautious: The Prime Minister and his team did not want to escalate the situation any further in order to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Instead, they wanted to rely on patient diplomacy behind the scenes. "They believe that the United Kingdom is the only nation capable of bridging the numerous divides that are currently opening up," said Starmer's party colleague Murphy.

But not all Britons reacted as diplomatically as Starmer to Vance's comment: "JD Vance is wrong, wrong, wrong," said Nigel Farage, head of the far-right Reform UK party.
Lord Alan West, a former Admiral of the Navy, was also annoyed - and attacked Vance: "As if he were a great hero. I mean, he was in the Marines." The US Vice President was never a fighter, he said - all he ever did was write articles and take photos. "It was inappropriate and he shouldn't have done it," he said about Vance's statement.

On Platform X, several MPs also accused the US Vice President of deep disrespect. Starmer's efforts to hold the transatlantic threads together are increasingly testing his patience.

original article by Franziska Hoppen, ARD London (in German)

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