‘He’s no Winston Churchill’: why Starmer can shrug off Trump’s insults over Iran

Analysis ‘He’s no Winston Churchill’: why Starmer can shrug off Trump’s insults over Iran Peter Walker Senior political correspondent The prime minister’s cautious stance about helping the US against the Tehran regime mirrors that of the electorate Middle East crisis: live updates It was perhaps the most attention-grabbing moment of prime minister’s questions. Responding to yet another Conservative salvo about his approach to Iran and how it might affect ties with America, Keir Starmer was direct. “American planes are operating out of British bases – that is the special relationship in action,” he said. “Sharing intelligence every day to keep our people safe – that is the special relationship in action. Hanging on to President Trump’s latest words is not the special relationship in action.” And certainly in the last few days, hanging on to and then endlessly, painfully analysing Trump’s ever-changing opinions has become even more of a national pursuit than it was before. On Monday, the US president told the Daily Telegraph that Starmer “took far too long” to allow US forces to use UK airbases. Speaking to the Sun on Tuesday, Trump said the prime minister “has not been helpful”. Later that day he commented witheringly about Starmer to reporters: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.” In previous eras, such criticism from a US president, particularly in so concentrated a volley, would prompt mass soul-searching in Downing Street and the Foreign Office, where the flame of the so-called special relationship with Washington still flickers. But for now, as demonstrated at PMQs, Starmer is if not completely sanguine about Trump’s comments then certainly confident of his path, and for three closely interlinked reasons. The first is the modern day diplomatic truism that, much as with the old joke about the British weather, if you dislike Trump’s opinion on something then don’t worry, just wait a bit and something very different will come along in its place....