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An emergency news conference in the Downing Street briefing room and the prime minister the gravest I’ve seen.
He came to level with the public about the predicament we are in, and the consequences for us all should President Donald Trump follow through on his threat to slap tariffs on the UK and take control of Greenland.
He left the audience in no doubt that we are facing the most serious crisis in the transatlantic relationship in decades, with huge uncertainty about what comes next.
Sir Keir Starmer was the most forthright I have seen him as he broke with President Trump, strongly criticising tariffs and insisting that on the matter of Greenland, the UK would not bend, whatever the consequences as he reminded the US that alliances were built on partnership, “not pressure”.
But the prime minister also used this moment to try to de-escalate, as he stressed the importance of the US-UK relationship and dodged the matter of retaliatory tariffs in an effort to avoid any further poking of the bear.
It doesn’t, by the way, mean the UK has ruled this option out – rather it is not a preferred solution and London would rather talk about other options. But the UK pointedly chose at this moment not to follow the EU by raising the prospect of retaliatory tariffs. That EU package, I’m told, could be released on Thursday.
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