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Starmer says he will not ‘yield’ on Greenland in response to threat of tariffs
Kemi Badenoch starts by welcoming Starmer following the Tory lead on a social media ban.
She says the future of Greenland should be decided by the people of Greenland. Did the US president agree when Starmer spoke to him.
Starmer says the future of Greenland is for the people of Greenland and Denmark alone.
He also says the tariff threats are completely wrong.
He says the Danish PM is coming to the UK tomorrow.
But he says he will not “yield” on Greenland under the threat of tariffs.
UPDATE: Badenoch said:
The prime minister and I agree – the future of Greenland should only be decided by the people of Greenland. When the prime minister made this point to (US) President Trump on Monday, did the president agree or disagree?
And Starmer replied:
Engaging constructively on international security matters hugely, particularly when it comes to security in the Arctic, and that’s the context in which this discussion is going on in relation to Greenland.
As we engage constructively, I have made my position clear on our principles and values. The first of those is that the future of Greenland is for the people of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark alone.
The second is that threats of tariffs to pressurise allies are completely wrong.
We will continue to engage constructively. I’ve had many international calls in recent days, and the prime minister of Denmark is coming to the United Kingdom tomorrow for bilateral talks.
But I do want to be clear with the House, I will not yield, Britain will not yield on our principles and values about the future of Greenland under threats of tariffs, and that is my clear position.
Key events
Alice Macdonald (Lab) asks the PM to back calls for a dental school in the east of England, at the University of East Anglia.
Starmer says the government is trying to address the problem it was left with. He says the University of East Anglia would be a good candidate for a dental school.
Starmer says government will respond to consultation on social media ban for under-16s by summer
Fred Thomas (Lab) welcomes the consultation on a social media ban for under-16s. He says the Tories did not do this when they were in office, and they did not even support it until last week. He calls for swift action.
Starmer says the government is having a consultation, and it will respond by the summer.
Robert Jenrick, the former Tory who defect to Reform UK, gets called. He is booed as he stands up. He says one of his last meetings as shadow justice secretary was about a former prison officer who exposed corruption and who was subsequently murdered. Because he had left the prison service, he did not get compensation. He asks if the PM will ensure that compensation is paid.
Starmer says he will look into this as a matter of urgency.
Starmer says South East Water’s performance ‘totally unacceptable’
Katie Lam (Con) says South East Water have been “shambolic” in their response to the water shortages in Kent. She says volunteers did a better job providing water to communities. Has the PM lost confidence in the company’s chief executive, as she has.
Starmer says the company’s performance is “totally unacceptable and needs to be fixed”.
Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, tells Richard Holden (Con) that he will have to leave the chamber because he is making too much noise.
Labour MP Steve Witherden urges Starmer to respond to ‘thug in White House’ with retaliatory tariffs
Steve Witherden‘(Lab) urged Starmer to commit to retaliatory tariffs against the US. He said Donald Trump was a bully, and bullies always seek out the weakest link.
Starmer repeats his point about not wanting to yield to Trump on Greenland. But he says he does not want a trade war.
UPDATE: Witherden said:
The thug in the White House has shown that he doesn’t listen to grovelling or sycophancy. He’ll continue to harm British interests no matter how compliant we are and, like all bullies, he will always find the weakest link.
Will the prime minister close ranks with our European allies and commit to retaliatory tariffs?
And Starmer replied:
I’ve made our position clear. I’ve set out my principles.
I’m not going to yield on those principles but as I said on Monday, of course we need to protect our national interest and we will always our protect our national interest.
But simply hurtling at the first opportunity into a trade war is going to hurt working people and businesses across the country, and that is why I’m working hard to make sure we do not get to that point, and I’ll continue to act in the national interest.
Starmer attacks Green party as ‘high on drugs, soft on Putin’
In response to a question from the Green MP Ellie Chowns about farming pollution, Starmer launched a wide-ranging attack on the Green party. He said:
I have to say, as someone who stood to lead her party, I wonder what she makes of how her leader is responding to this global uncertainty. Because what he’s saying is this is the moment to withdraw from Nato. This is the time to kick the US out of our military bases. This is the time to negotiate this with Putin, to give up our nuclear deterrent.
Starmer joked that Putin would be “quick on the line for that one”. Starmer went on:
It’s just reckless. As irresponsible as their plan to legalise heroin and crack cocaine. That’s the Green party now. High on drugs. Soft on Putin.
Starmer may have been reading, or listening to, the Guardian’s interview published yesterday with Zack Polanski.
Ed Davey compares Trump to ‘crime boss running protection racket’, as Starmer says cutting ties with US ‘foolhardy’
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, says Tony Blair ignore warnings from the Lib Dems and “tied himself to an unpopular American president and a disastrous foreign policy while close allies like Canada and France looked on in horror”.
He goes on:
With Donald Trump increasingly acting like a crime boss running a protection racket threatened to smash up our economy unless he gets his hands on Greenland.
Will the prime minister avoid Blair’s historic mistake, take our advice this time and join Prime Minister Carney and President Macron in standing up far more strongly to President Trump?
Starmer replies:
I said I will not yield on the principles and values that I uphold [and] this country’s policy in relation to the future of Greenland.
But the relationship with the US matters, especially on defence, security and intelligence, on nuclear capability, also on trade and prosperity.
Whilst [Davey is] trying to get sound bites, we mustn’t forget a war is raging in Europe. It is in its fourth year. The Russians are raining bombs down on Ukrainian civilians day and night. Temperatures were minus 25 last night. 60% without power. People are erecting tents to keep themselves warm. We have to work with our allies, including the US, on security guarantees, to make sure we can do what we must do in relation to Ukraine.
Now, that does not mean we agree with the US on everything … But it is foolhardy to think that we should rip up our relationship with the US, abandon Ukraine and stabilise all the things that are important to our defence, security and good.
Badenoch claims Starmer is consistently weak.
Starmer says he is trying to hold his party together. Badenoch is trying to hold her party together. He says she has terrible judgement, including saying Greenland was a second order issue.
Badenoch says she sacked Jenrick for undermining her party. If Starmer sacked everyone who undermined his party, there would be no one left on the front bench, she says.
Starmer says Badenoch is claiming sacking Jenrick was a sign of strength. But at that point she had already read his defection letter. What else was she going to do? Correct the typos and give it back.
