Rachel Reeves says Trump’s struggle on Iran was a ‘mistake’ and has not made world safer as Brits brace for ache

Rachel Reeves branded Donald Trump‘s war on Iran a ‘mistake’ today as she lays the ground to dodge blame for the looming problems. 

Speaking at an event at the IMF meetings in Washington, the Chancellor insisted she was not convinced the joint US-Israeli action had made the world ‘safer’.

The comments came amid mounting Transatlantic friction over the chaos in the Middle East – which has seen the crucial Strait of Hormuz effectively shut. 

Mr Trump again vented fury at Keir Starmer this morning for refusing to back his military campaign.

In an impromptu interview with Sky News, the President complained that the UK was ‘not there’ when he asked for help with the strikes on Tehran and to reopen the Strait.

He hinted the trade agreement struck with Sir Keir last year is up for grabs, and also took aim at Labour’s immigration and Net Zero policies.

But pressed on the barbs at PMQs, Sir Keir said it was just another part of ‘pressure’ tactics to shift his position on the Iran war.

‘I’m not going to change my mind, I’m not going to yield,’ he told MPs. 

Downing Street has played down calls from the Welsh Labour leader for the PM to retaliate by putting a key joint defence project on hold. 

Baroness Morgan suggested the ‘deep space radar’ planned for Pembrokeshire should be mothballed in light of Mr Trump’s ‘hostility towards the UK and verbal attacks on our nation’. 

Speaking at a CNBC event in the US capital, Ms Reeves said: ‘The question is not whether you like or dislike the Iranian regime – I strongly dislike the Iranian regime – but how to achieve the change that you want to achieve.’

She said Iran did not currently have a nuclear weapon and the best way to prevent the Tehran regime from getting one was through diplomacy rather than conflict.

The Chancellor added: ‘There was a diplomatic channel open, conversations, formal discussions were happening.

‘I think it was a mistake to end those and to enter into conflict, because I’m not convinced that we are safer today than we were a few weeks ago.’

Ms Reeves went on: ‘We’ve never been clear about what the goals of this conflict is, which is why the impacts in our economy, but also here in the US economy and around the world, and particularly for our allies in the Gulf, like Saudi and Qatar and the UAE, are so immense.

‘We need to reopen that Strait of Hormuz to get down energy prices and to strengthen and stabilise

‘I believe that you can’t have economic security without national security. Energy security is a key part of that. But to have energy security, you’ve got to have those key waterways open, which we don’t at the moment.’

On the strait she pointed out: ‘It was open at the beginning of this conflict, and that’s what I mean about being clear about what the objectives of this conflict is.’

Highlighting efforts by the UK to reopen it, Ms Reeves said: ‘We are willing to play our part, but the Strait of Hormuz was open. There was no tolling a few weeks ago.

‘Yes, we want to get back there, but I’m not convinced that this conflict has made the world a safer place.’

Sir Keir announced an ‘Economic Prosperity Deal’ with Mr Trump in May last year across a range of industries, including cars, planes and agriculture.

But some elements of the agreement have yet to be fully negotiated and implemented, while a UK-US technology partnership already appears to have been paused.

Asked about the state of the so-called Special Relationship in his latest interview, Mr Trump swiped that it has ‘been better’ and that was ‘sad’. 

‘We gave them a good trade deal. Better than I had to. Which can always be changed,’ he added ominously. 

The President also renewed his criticism of Labour’s immigration and Net Zero policy.

He insisted ‘your country is being invaded by people from prisons, drug dealers, people from mental institutions’.

But Mr Trump said that the tensions would ‘not at all’ affect King Charles’s State Visit to the US later this month, suggesting he knew that the monarch was not involved in political decisions.

‘I’ve known him for a long time. He’s wonderful, wonderful person,’ the US President added.

Asked for his thoughts on the Special Relationship, Mr Trump initially replied: ‘With who?’

He said that while he liked the PM he had made a ‘tragic mistake in closing the North Sea oil’, as well as ‘a tragic mistake on immigration’.

Mr Trump said he ‘loves’ the UK and ‘would love to see it succeed’, but he hit out at ‘insane’ policies.

‘Your country is being invaded… by illegal immigrants from all over the world, including those from prisons, drug dealers, people from mental institutions,’ he added. 

Sir Keir’s early efforts to woo Mr Trump have dramatically imploded, first due to US efforts to seize Greenland and then over the Iran war.

The PM initially refused to let American forces use UK bases to launch strikes, although he later relented to permit ‘defensive’ operations defending allies in the region from Iranian reprisals.

The premier also dismissed Mr Trump’s demands to send the Royal Navy to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz while the war was ongoing.

In return, Mr Trump has branded Sir Keir ‘no Churchill’ and reputedly refers to him as a ‘loser’ in private. 

Last month he re-posted a Saturday Night Live sketch mocking the PM as a ‘coward’ and ‘out of his depth’. 

Yesterday Sir Keir condemned Mr Trump’s threats to ‘end’ Iranian civilisation, along with his plan to blockade the Strait.

In a statement to MPs, the PM said he would ‘never’ use the kind of words the US President did about destroying civilian power and water infrastructure because they were ‘wrong’.

He also confirmed that the UK will not be playing any part in Mr Trump’s latest move to stop ‘any and all ships’ going through the vital Strait – which carries around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas.

Sir Keir insisted Britain is ready to help restore freedom of navigation, but made clear that will ‘take time’ and can only happen ‘once the conflict ends’. He also demanded that Lebanon is included in any ceasefire, saying Israel must stop attacks.