British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he will not bow to US President Donald Trump and will continue to oppose the US takeover of Greenland.
Starmer has sought to maintain close ties with Trump to preserve trade and security ties, but in some of his harshest criticism of the US leader, he said he would not be afraid to change his position that the future of Greenland should be decided by its people and by Denmark.
“I will not be swayed, Britain will not be swayed, by our principles and values on the future of Greenland under the threat of tariffs, and that is my clear position,” Starmer told lawmakers, adding that the Danish prime minister would visit London on Thursday.
Responding at PMQs, Starmer said Trump’s words on the Chagos Islands – the largest of which, Diego Garcia, is home to a joint UK-US military base – “were expressly intended to put pressure on me to yield on my principles”.
“What he said about Chagos was literally in the same sentence as what he said about Greenland. That was his purpose,” he continued.
“And the future of Greenland is a binary issue that is splitting the world at the moment, with material consequences. I’ve been clear and consistent in my position on the future of Greenland.
“The future is for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark alone.”
Telling MPs that the Danish prime minister will visit the UK on Thursday, he said the “threats of tariffs to pressurise allies are completely wrong.”
Trump has threatened to hit Britain and other European allies with 10% tariffs from February 1 unless they agree to his purchase of Greenland, and he has refused to rule out using military force to seize the island.
