Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at Donald Trump, accusing him of “diminishing” Britain’s war dead after the US president falsely claimed Nato troops stayed away from the front line in the conflict.
The prime minister joined veterans and politicians from across the political spectrum in his condemnation of Mr Trump, who has enraged Nato allies by claiming he is not sure the alliance would “be there if we ever needed them”.
Sir Keir’s official spokesperson said the US president “was wrong to diminish the role of Nato troops, including British forces, in Afghanistan” and said their service and sacrifice “will never be forgotten”.
It came as Sir Tony Blair, who has just joined Trump’s Middle East peace board but was the UK prime minister who first sent British troops to support America in Afghanistan, also intervened.
Avoiding direct criticism of the US president, a spokesperson for Sir Tony said: "Tony Blair knows - and will always remember with deep gratitude - the enormous contribution and sacrifice British troops made in Afghanistan on the front line of the fight against terrorism, following the 9/11 attacks on the US."
Earlier, the former head of the Royal Navy led those criticising the claim, calling his comments “disgraceful”. Former first sea lord, Admiral Lord West, who coordinated the naval activity in Afghanistan, told The Independent: “It is wrong and a disgraceful thing for anyone to say, let alone the head of state of an allied nation.”
Defence secretary John Healey said British troops killed in Afghanistan were “heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation”, while defence minister Al Carns, who himself has served five tours in Afghanistan, invited anyone who believes Trump’s claim to meet him and the bereaved families of the more than 400 British personnel who died in the conflict.
More than 1,100 non-US coalition fighters died in the conflict that began in 2001, according to veteran charity Help for Heroes, the overwhelming majority of them being from Nato countries, while more than 2,300 members of the US armed forces were killed.
But Mr Trump, who famously avoided the draft for the Vietnam War five times in the 1960s and 1970s, told Fox News: “They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan… and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”
Politicians and British veterans alike have rejected the US president’s comments, with a government minister saying the claims are “plainly wrong” and “deeply disappointing”.
Mr Carns took to X to say: “I'd suggest whoever believes these comments, come have a whisky with me, my colleagues, their families, and importantly, the families of those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for both of our nations.”
He also uploaded a video of himself during his time in uniform, which he described as a “small snapshot of what it’s like to be on the frontline in Afghanistan” to LinkedIn, warning “viewer discretion advised”.
Ex-defence secretary Grant Shapps said: “Nato troops did not ‘stay a little off the front lines’ in Afghanistan. British and allied forces fought, bled and died alongside US troops – 457 British personnel never came home. Their families deserve gratitude, not casual distortion from the US president.”
Another former defence secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, told The Independent: “President Trump is either willing to make accusations without bothering to check the facts. Or he is just lying and knows he is lying. Either way, he is destroying his reputation and that of the United States”.
“It just doesn’t really add up what he said, because the fact of the matter is the only time that Article 5 has been invoked was to go to the aid of the United States after 9/11,” care minister Stephen Kinnock told Sky News on Friday morning.
Mr Kinnock told BBC Breakfast he has “absolutely no doubt” the prime minister “will make his views very plain and clear” to Mr Trump on the issue.
He added: “Many, many British soldiers and many soldiers from other European Nato allies gave their lives in support of American missions, American-led missions in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I am incredibly proud of our armed forces. They have put their lives on the line for our country. They are the definition of honour and valour and patriotism.”
He added: “President Trump’s comments are deeply disappointing; there is no other way to say that. I don’t know really why he said them. I don’t think there’s any basis for him to make those comments.”
America remains the only country to have invoked the collective security provisions of Nato’s Article 5, which sees an attack on one Nato nation as an attack on all, with the alliance providing support to the US after the terrorist attacks of September 11.
The UK suffered the second-highest number of military deaths in the Afghanistan conflict, behind the US, which saw 2,461 deaths. In total, America’s allies suffered 1,160 deaths in the conflict, around a third of the total coalition deaths.
Reacting to Mr Trump’s comments, the mother of a young British rifleman killed in Afghanistan said the president had “no compassion whatsoever for anyone who doesn’t serve him”.
Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died aged 18, told The Mirror the US president’s remarks were “extremely upsetting”.
Mr Kinnock told BBC Breakfast: “I think that we should honour and pay tribute to William and to his mother for those strong words that she has expressed.
“I think we have to be really clear that our armed forces have always played a central role in what it means to be British and what our country is and what we stand for.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also condemned Mr Trump’s claims as “flat-out nonsense”.
“British, Canadian, and Nato troops fought and died alongside the US for 20 years,” she wrote on X. “This is a fact, not opinion. Their sacrifice deserves respect, not denigration.”
And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Trump avoided military service five times. How dare he question their sacrifice.”
Mr Trump has previously been criticised for avoiding being conscripted to fight in Vietnam due to being diagnosed with bone spurs in his heels – a claim that has been subject to significant doubt.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who served in Afghanistan as a captain in the Royal Yorkshire Regiment, said it was “sad to see our nation’s sacrifice, and that of our Nato partners, held so cheaply by the president of the United States”.
He said: “I saw first-hand the sacrifices made by British soldiers I served alongside in [the town of] Sangin, where we suffered horrific casualties, as did the US Marines the following year.
“I don’t believe US military personnel share the view of President Trump; his words do them a disservice as our closest military allies.”
Labour MP Calvin Bailey, a former RAF officer who served alongside US special operations units in Afghanistan and was awarded the Air Medal by the US president in 2013, said: “The first reaction is to be angry, but some international relationships are enduring and you have to rise above it.
“Political leaders are just like a hand in a bucket of water. They pass. I know that Trump is one man, but behind him are 300 million, most of whom disagree. I served with Americans; they are my friends. They told me to rise above those comments.”
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