Dame Emily Thornberry warned that ‘snatching’ leaders will end in anarchy as she said Keir Starmer must be clear Donald Trump broke international law
A senior Labour MP has warned Keir Starmer must be clearer that Donald Trump broke international law over Venezuela – warning it could end in “anarchy”.
Dame Emily Thornberry, who chairs the influential foreign affairs select committee, says the Government must not “look away and say nothing”. American commandos captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on Saturday, accusing Maduro of being a “narco-terrorist”.
On Monday morning minister Mike Tapp said it was for the US to set out the legal case. He also refused to say if the UK would condemn an invasion of Greenland.
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Dame Emily said she does not support the US intervention in Venezuela. She told Times Radio: “I mean, I agree with everybody’s criticism of Maduro. Of course I do. But I think that we have to be really careful about what we do.
“There are rules and you just can’t go around snatching leaders from different countries, taking them back to your domestic courts and trying them. It will just end in anarchy.
“And since the Second World War, there have been a number of rules that have been generally agreed by the international community. And this action flies in the face of that.”
There is uncertainty about what comes next for Venezuela. Dame Emily said: “You can’t just chop the head off a snake. All you end up with is a dead snake. And there needs to be more work done.
“And I don’t think that there has been sufficient planning. But my primary problem is that in any event, there is no legal basis for this. And it sets a really bad precedent for countries such as China and Russia, who may also think, well, we’ve got spheres of influence. Why can’t we do things like that within our sphere of influence like Ukraine or Taiwan?
“And it’s quite difficult to say that they can’t, given that America has done it and there’s been no consequences and very little criticism, at least from Western governments.”
She called on the Government to be firmer, saying: “I’m not going to pretend this isn’t difficult. And it is important that we keep a very important ally like America on board.
“We have, particularly Ukraine, and the interests of Ukraine that we need to consider. But it’s meaningless if we don’t support international law. That’s my point. I don’t think that we can just look away and say nothing. I don’t think on balance that it’s the right thing to do.”
Dame Emily said the UK must “be clearer that this has been a breach of international law and we do not agree that they should have done it”.
Asked if he was comfortable with the US action, Home Office minister Mr Tapp said: “Well, what I say is he is not a legit wasn’t a legitimate president.
“He was a dictator who tortured prisoners, used sexual violence, intimidated dissidents. So I like Keir Starmer and Cooper and the British government shed no tears whatsoever that this man is no longer in charge of Venezuela, which makes the people of Venezuela safer .”
He said it is for the US to “lay out the legality” for its actions. He said the UK and its allies would come to a conclusion on it.
Asked why he thought US president Donald Trump had instigated the operation, the Home Office minister said: “This is for Donald Trump to answer, and I think he has said in his press conference, which I watched with interest, around narco-terrorism and that threat.”
Pressed by the broadcaster whether Venezuela’s vast oil wealth may have influenced the operation, Mr Tapp replied: “It’s not for me or the British Government at this point to go into that detail.
“It’s for the United States to lay out its legal basis for this operation.”