Yvette Cooper said the UK had learned the lessons of the Iraq war as she was quizzed about reports Tony Blair said Britain should have backed America from the start of its Iran strikes
Yvette Cooper has called out Tony Blair after he reportedly claimed Britain should have backed the US from the start of its Iran strikes.
She said lessons have been learned from the disastrous Iraq War when pressed about his comments. And the Foreign Secretary said the Government will “focus on substance and not on social media posts” as she defended Keir Starmer after Donald Trump’s latest rant overnight.
The unpredictable US President hit out on his Truth Social network, claiming: “We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”
And he also branded the UK “our once Great Ally” and said his country would remember the PM’s initial refusal to provide the use of British bases. Ms Cooper attempted to dimiss Trump’s most recent rant, telling Sky News’ Sunday with Trevor Phillips: “The thing I’ve learned doing this job is that you have to focus on substance and not on social media posts, and that’s the important way to do this.”
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On Saturday it was reported that Sir Tony said the UK should have supported the US from the start. The former Prime Minister is claimed to have said at a private event: “I am not saying anything that I haven’t already said to the government… I think we should have backed America from the very beginning.”
Ms Cooper went on to tell the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I would say that this is about what’s in the UK’s interest. It’s for the US president to decide what he thinks is in the US national interest, and that’s for him to do.
“But it is our job as the UK government to decide what’s in the UK national interest. And that doesn’t mean simply agreeing with other countries or outsourcing our foreign policy to other countries.
“We have to be able to take those decisions.” Ms Cooper went on: “That’s what Keir Starmer has been doing. And I think he’s right to stand up for Britain and Britain’s interests.”
Trump has been scathing after the Prime Minister refused to let the US launch strikes on Iran from British bases. He subsequently said they would be allowed to do so – but only for defensive strikes targeting missiles – after Iran attacked British allies and RAF Akrotiri was attacked in Cyprus.
Pressed about Sir Tony’s reported remarks, Ms Cooper told Sky: “I think the point is to make sure that actually we learn the lessons from some of the things that went wrong in Iraq.
“And I think that is exactly what Keir Starmer has done. And to make sure we’ve got military action taking place as we speak to defend countries that are facing Iranian strikes, because that is in the British national interest. But we don’t do things that are not in the British national interests.”
She continued: “Keir Starmer’s style of doing politics is obviously very different. And I think that kind of calm, coolheaded approach to these big, serious international issues, I really think that is right.
“And we’re not going to do things in terms of the rhetoric or hyperbole. We’re going to do things on really practical, calm, steady decision making, because I think that is actually the British character more widely, to do things in a serious and steady way. That’s what we’re going to.”
She stated: “The US president has a responsibility to do what he thinks is right in the US national interest. The UK Prime Minister has the responsibility to do what he thinks is right in the UK’s national interest.
“That means sometimes we will disagree, and there are many areas where our security partnership remains incredibly strong, and I have seen myself the close intelligence cooperation the close military cooperation.
“But there will also be areas where we disagree. So, for example, we had disagreed on Greenland. We disagreed on the initial strikes that took place and whether the UK should provide the basing support for them.
“But that is a legitimate thing for the UK Prime Minister to do.”
In a post overnight, Trump wrote: “The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East.
“That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer – But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”