Tensions flared in the UK Parliament as Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey Clash launched a fiery attack on Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper over Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs linked to Greenland. Davey accused the government of failing to stand up to Washington and warned that appeasing Trump was damaging Britain’s credibility abroad.
Saying the UK’s policy to “appease Trump has failed,” Davey tore into Labour for weakness on trade and foreign policy. Cooper defended diplomacy and alliance management, insisting sovereignty and UK interests would not be compromised amid mounting transatlantic pressure.
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00:00Can I associate myself and my party with the comments of the Foreign Secretary about the terrible rail crash in Spain?
00:06And can I thank her for her statement?
00:08Madam Deputy Speaker, President Trump is acting like an international gangster.
00:14Threatening to trample over the sovereignty of an ally.
00:19Threatening the end of NATO altogether.
00:22Are now threatening to hit our country and seven European allies with outrageous damaging tariffs unless he gets his hands on Greenland.
00:33This is an incredibly grave moment for the United Kingdom, Europe and our world.
00:40Without provocation or justification, the President of the United States is attacking our economy, our livelihoods and our national security.
00:52Trump has put British businesses and jobs on the front line in his unprovoked aggression.
00:59The only people cheering him on are Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
01:03Only a few months ago, Trump hailed the special relationship at Windsor Castle.
01:12Now, thanks to his actions, it is nearly in tatters.
01:18So how do we stop Trump's damaging trade war?
01:21For a year now, Madam Deputy Speaker, the Prime Minister has tried a policy of appeasing Trump, flattering him, fawning over him, refusing to stand up to him.
01:32Because, he argued, otherwise Trump would hit us with damaging tariffs.
01:39Well, the Prime Minister has tested his approach to destruction.
01:43It has failed.
01:44It is time for the government to change course.
01:48We have to finally be clear-eyed about the sort of man Trump is and treat him accordingly.
01:55He is a bully.
01:57He thinks he can grab whatever he wants, using force if necessary.
02:01And he is corrupt, the most corrupt president the United States has ever seen.
02:09So there are only two ways of getting him to back down.
02:13Bribing him, with a new jet perhaps, or a few billion in his crypto account.
02:18Or standing up to him, like we would with any other bully.
02:24Standing together with our European allies to make him back down.
02:29That is the choice.
02:31Which one, Foreign Secretary?
02:32Well, this is clearly a serious moment.
02:43I wonder if the Honourable Gentleman actually saw the Prime Minister's response this morning.
02:50And he should know that it is because this is a serious moment that we respond in a serious way.
02:59That this Prime Minister responds in a serious way, in a calm, robust and hard-headed way.
03:10About what is in the UK's national interest.
03:15And also how we work together in the alliances that are crucial for our security, our prosperity, and also are underpinned by our values.
03:25That is why the Prime Minister has been so firm in the United Kingdom's response.
03:30It is why I welcomed the Danish Foreign Minister to London today.
03:35And I think that the Honourable Member's description of our Prime Minister's response and our UK Government response is inappropriate.
03:44I would say I think this is a really important time for parties to come together on how we ensure that we can respond to the situation that we are in.
03:57That we can work closely with our allies.
03:59But that we can also create a constructive approach to our Arctic security, which ultimately will depend on transatlantic cooperation.
04:10And ultimately will depend on ensuring that those alliances and that transatlantic alliance respects the principles of sovereignty and respects the principles of collective security.
04:23That is something we will do in a sober and serious way.
04:27Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker.
04:30What we are witnessing is a very rude awakening for European nations, including our own, that if you do not properly invest in sovereign capabilities for defence and security,
04:43and rely instead on others, then sooner or later you will be bullied or blackmailed by larger nations.
04:49And the question for us is, are we just going to kick the can down the road and just trundle along with small, gradual increases in defence investment?
05:00Or are we going to chart a path to 3% GDP defence spending in this Parliament?
05:08Now, in terms of Arctic security, the Foreign Secretary intimated that only one British officer was involved in the Danish-led Operation Arctic Endurance in Greenland.
05:19Could she please update the House as to our current and future planned participation?
05:25And are there any political or practical constraints in that future participation?
05:30Secretary?
05:32So, on the specific issue that he raised, it was not an operation.
05:37It was a planning process, as takes place very routinely.
05:42And that continues to be the case.
05:44What we are arguing for is a broader approach to Arctic security.
05:49In fact, the UK's strongest contribution is around the north of Norway.
05:55Our partnership with Norway is really now unrivaled.
05:58Both the commandos, the excellent work that I saw at Camp Viking and elsewhere,
06:04and also of the frigates, the joint frigates there.
06:07And that is unrivaled.
06:10For a non-Arctic nation, our contribution to Arctic security is now unrivaled.
06:16And we see this as being part of Arctic Century, a wider approach to the collective Arctic security.
06:24But what I would also say is he raises the issue about investment.
06:28And we are in...
06:30This is exactly why we have put forward the biggest increase in defence spending for very many years.
06:37The Prime Minister, I'm afraid, is being rather mealy-mouthed about a situation that the President of the United States obviously sees as very simple.
06:48He believes that either through extortion, and he's not denying that he may use military force to acquire Greenland, whichever way you look at it.
06:56So, two questions.
06:57First of all, as she will know, there are significant military assets owned by the United States, based here in the United Kingdom.
07:03Could they be used as part of an invasion of Greenland, against our will?
07:08And secondly, does she recognise that when terrorists were first wielded as a weapon against the Canadians,
07:16we should have stood with them rather than cutting a snivelling deal?
07:19The Prime Minister, I will say to you, first of all, that is clearly not the situation.
07:26That we are talking about.
07:27We have been very clear about the importance of both sovereignty and collective security,
07:33that this is not just part of the NATO alliance, that these are fundamental principles that we stand for as well.
07:40And in terms of the work around tariffs, as we'll know,
07:44the work the Prime Minister led has been effective in addressing tariffs in the past.
07:51We will show the same determination and robust approach again.
07:55Similarly, we have done so on other issues as well.
07:59It is important that we focus around the results that we can get by taking a hard-headed approach.
08:04That is what we're continuing to do.
08:05Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
08:07Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
08:08Knocking on doors in Denson, Westerhope, Arthurs Hill and Windgrove,
08:12for the first time in my 15 years as an MP, the number one issue was global insecurity.
08:19President Trump has succeeded in uniting the British people against his unwarranted attack on a close array.
08:28Now, my right honourable friend is right to be calm and diplomatic,
08:33but will she reassure us that, given the current president's volatility,
08:41she and her government will ensure that our sovereignty is not dependent on US capability,
08:49and specifically that our technology procurement, both civil and defence, will reflect this?
08:56Well, my honourable friend is right to talk about the very strong feeling on this right across the UK,
09:06the very strong feeling for the sense of protecting sovereignty for the people of Greenland,
09:11for the people of Denmark more widely,
09:14and also the real deep sense that to have tariffs proposed in this way is just deeply wrong.
09:22It is also counterproductive to our collective security, but it is also deeply wrong.
09:28She also raises the issues about her UK resilience as well.
09:33She will know that on things like the Five Eyes Partnership,
09:36there is very deep, long-standing cooperation and shared technology,
09:40but there are also areas where we agree that Europe needs to do more for its own defence
09:46and its own investment as well, and that is what we are doing.
09:49Senator O'Hara.
09:50Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I declare an interest as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Greenland.
09:57President Trump's threat to annex Greenland, either the easy way or the hard way,
10:02is pushing Europe to the verge of one of the biggest political crisis and security crisis we have faced in decades.
10:09Now, his threat to impose punitive tariffs on those opposing his illegal annexation
10:16means that the president of our closest ally is using economic and military threats against the UK and other European nations
10:24simply for defending sovereignty, self-determination and international law.
10:30So, on what basis does this government view this particular president as being a trustworthy and reliable ally?
10:40Well, we have made very clear that threats to Greenland's sovereignty are wrong.
10:48Threats on tariffs and on economic pressure are wrong because allies should stand together
10:55and not face the kinds of threats that we have seen.
10:59Particularly, that is an issue for the UK, but also particularly for Denmark,
11:05that has been such a close ally to both the UK and the US as well.
11:11We are taking a very robust, hard-headed approach to this,
11:15to work through what is in the UK national interest and to get a resolution to this
11:21that can protect and defend and strengthen the Arctic security and also UK security more widely.
11:30And that is the right thing to do.
11:33Colleagues need to shorten their questions.
11:34Many members want to get in, and that depends on the length of your questions.
11:37Alan Gemmell.
11:38Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker.
11:40Can I thank the Foreign Secretary for setting out the UK's position on the future of Greenland,
11:45for the people of Greenland and for the Danes to decide?
11:48It is not right that one of our closest and oldest allies threatens us with economic sanctions.
11:53And I have two questions for the Foreign Secretary.
11:55How will she explain to the US administration our interests and actions at this time,
12:03and stop the sanctions and resolve the situation?
12:06And might she take an interest in the Franco-British fast jet replacement programme
12:10and a company called Oralus, so that we do not have to rely on a British solution,
12:13building on the excellent question from the member for Newcastle upon time, Central and West?
12:18Well, I can say we have been very clear to the US and more widely about the importance
12:28of countries working together to strengthen security.
12:33That is exactly what Denmark has been seeking to do to strengthen security of Greenland
12:39as part of strengthening Arctic security against the Russian threat.
12:44And that should be something which is recognised as important, recognised as valuable,
12:51where countries come together to do so, because Arctic security is a multilateral issue.
12:56It's not a unilateral issue, it's a multilateral issue.
12:59It will only be strengthened by countries working together.
13:03So this is about our interests on that shared collective security,
13:07but also our values in defending sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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