Donald Trump’s unpredictability means the UK should move away from defence reliance on America and pursue stronger relations with “middle powers” such as Canada, Sir Keir Starmer has been warned.
In a report published on Friday, parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) said the government should prepare for a “worst-case scenario” in which Europe could no longer rely on US support in a crisis.
Britain currently relies on the US in several key national security areas, including maintenance of its Trident nuclear missiles, intelligence sharing and major projects such as the F-35 fighter jet and Aukus submarine deal with Australia.
But the JCNSS, which is made up of senior MPs and Lords, said recent comments by Donald Trump had shown “demonstrable areas of tension” in UK-US relations that could “compromise the reliability of these dependencies”.
Mr Trump’s threat to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark, strained relationships with Nato allies and prompted Danish soldiers to reportedly prepare to blow up key airport runways over fears the US could invade the Arctic island.
The US president has also repeatedly criticised Sir Keir over his response to the US-Israel war with Iran, accusing him of seeking to “join wars after we’ve already won” and saying he is “no Winston Churchill”. Mr Trump went further earlier this month, saying that the so-called special relationship between the US and Britain is “not like it used to be”, amid the diplomatic bust-up over the US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
Mr Trump has also repeatedly criticised the deal to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, resulting in multiple U-turns over his support for the deal, despite initially backing it.
The JCNSS review of UK national security said that Britain should plan to transition to a more European-led Nato and “move away from a bilateral relationship with the United States that is so dependent on the latter”.
It recommended that the UK invest in relationships with other “middle powers, for example Canada, Australia and India, to avoid being squeezed by great power competition between the United States and China”.
In a stark warning, JCNSS chair and Labour MP Matt Western said: “The unpredictability of the US relationship is a growing concern.
“The UK’s deep dependence on the US for security guarantees has a long history, and the partnership will outlast prime ministers and presidents alike.
“But the UK needs a clear plan to move away from some areas of strategic reliance to ensure the UK can pursue its national interest.”
The fresh warning comes after a report earlier this year from former senior Nato adviser Chris Donnelly and MPs Bernard Jenkin and Derek Twigg, who argued that Britain must prepare for war and face up to the fact it can no longer rely on the US.
“We must prepare for the worst; that is, we must prepare for the fact that the US may no longer be a reliable ally and may well become a separate actor, pursuing a narrow understanding of its national interests,” the report by think tank Civitas said.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney urged fellow middle power countries to come together, warning: “The old order is not coming back.”
In the widely-noted speech, Mr Carney explained: “Middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
In the national security review published on Friday, MPs and peers also called on the government to provide “greater transparency on national security issues” and pushed for a version of the China audit, which set out the UK’s long-term strategy towards Beijing, to be published.
According to the government’s National Security Strategy, security threats to the UK are proliferating and intensifying, including terrorism and biosecurity threats. Russia presents the single greatest source of threats to the UK’s security, with China and Iran also “presenting strategic challenges”, the report found.
The JCNSS said that the lack of publicly available details about the risks posed by China risked eroding public trust.
It also warned that cutting spending on international development aid was creating a gap that Russia and China were exploiting, particularly in Africa.
A government spokesperson said: “National security is our first duty. We’ve wasted no time hardening and sharpening our approach to keeping the country safe, delivering the biggest sustained investment in defence since the Cold War.
“All this work is strengthened by our cooperation with allies around the world as leading members of Nato and the Five Eyes.
“On China, our approach is consistent – we will cooperate where we can and challenge where we must. That means tackling the threats posed by China but also pursuing and maximising the opportunities it creates."
Battle over Trump’s SAVE Act reveals how much Thune must be missing Mitch McConnell
Keir Starmer ‘to make Sadiq Khan a lord’
China opens investigations into US trade practices in response to Trump tariff moves
New York's newly identified Underground Railroad passage is under threat
Reform Welsh election candidate pictured performing Nazi salute
Keir Starmer promises to ‘fight’ social media firms over addictive content
