Keir Starmer requested whether or not he’d do a ‘Love Actually second’ as Prime Minister

Keir Starmer has been asked whether he’d give the nation a “Love Actually moment” if he became Prime Minister in a new BBC interview.

The Labour leader sat down with Nick Robinson for the latest General Election Panorama interview on BBC One this evening, where he laid out his plans for the country if Labour beats the Tories on July 4. In the 30-minute slot, Mr Starmer tackled the issues on the economy, education, and the NHS, as well as detailing some of the changes he’s brought to his party since becoming leader during the Covid pandemic.

At one point, Mr Robinson pressed him on if he would “say no” to a future Donald Trump presidency and be “like Hugh Grant in Love Actually”.

He was referring to a famous scene in the 2003 romcom, when Hugh’s Prime Minister character famously refuses a request from the US President to join a wartime coalition. Bringing up Mr Starmer’s opposition to the Iraq war at the time and his future foreign policy should he become Prime Minister, Mr Robinson asked: “You didn’t say, but it’s only fair to say that you marched against the Iraq War, you were clear where you were.

“There are some of your supporters, some people who would no doubt be voting for you, who hope particularly if Donald Trump is elected, and of course, that’s nothing to do with you whether he is or he isn’t, you know what they hope for? They want you to be like Hugh Grant in the movie. They want a Love Actually moment. Are you prepared to stand alongside an American President and publicly say, no Mr President.

Mr Starmer said: “Well, I’ll deal with each situation as it arises. We don’t simply do what any other country asks us to do. Every case has to be looked at on its merits. That is a very special relationship. It will always be a special relationship with the US, whoever is the President. Obviously, it will be up to the American people to decide who that is, and we and I, if we are elected into government, will deal with whoever is President of the United States.”

The one-to-one BBC Panorama interviews, hosted by former BBC political editor Mr Robinson, are taking place with leaders of major political parties in the UK throughout the General Election campaign. In one amusing moment during the interview with Rishi Sunak on Monday, the struggling Prime Minister was asked whether he was like a “quinoa salad”.

Mr Robinson asked: “The problem with that is that Nigel Farage has destroyed David Cameron’s premiership. He helped bring down Theresa May and he’s now coming for you and isn’t your problem that many Conservatives think he’s more of a Conservative than you are?”

When Mr Sunak refused to answer, Mr Robinson brutally responded: “So you won’t talk about Nigel Farage at all. You see, a lot of people looking at him and you, they think these Conservatives, he’s a kind of Sunday roast with all the trimmings and you’re a quinoa salad”. Viewers reacted with glee at the line, with one quipping: “Rishi Sunak is nothing like a quinoa salad. A salad would not go off after 3 hours like he did on D-Day.”