The U.S. is engaging in ‘extreme rightwing tropes’ reminiscent of the 1930s, British MPs warn
The US is engaging in “extreme rightwing tropes” with echoes of the 1930s and threatening “chilling” interference in European democracies, British MPs warned ministers on Thursday.
The House of Commons rounded on Donald Trump’s national security strategy, which stated that Europe was facing “civilisational erasure” and vowed to help the continent “correct its current trajectory and promote patriotic European parties”.
Matt Western, a Labour MP and chair of parliament’s joint committee on the UK government’s national security strategy, warned: “The United States consensus that has led the western world since the second world war appears shattered.”
“The prospect of United States interference in the democratic politics of Europe, I believe, is chilling,” Western said, adding: “The absence of condemnation for Russia is extraordinary, though not surprising.” He warned that the US pivot “leaves the United Kingdom especially vulnerable”.
Liam Byrne, another Labour MP and chair of the business select committee, said it was “not hard to see the rhymes with some extreme rightwing tropes which date back to the 1930s” and called for closer defence cooperation with Europe.
Keir Starmer and his ministers have been cautious not to criticise Trump and have sought to play down the implications of the strategy document.
Seema Malhotra, a Foreign Office minister, insisted repeatedly on Thursday that the US “remains a strong, reliable and vital ally for the UK” and that ministers agreed with some aspects of the strategy, “like the importance of sustaining freedom and security”.
She told the Commons that the UK government did “take a different view” than the US “on some areas”, including on European strength and the value of multiculturalism.
“What we see is a strong Europe coming together to defend Ukraine with the UK helping to lead the coalition of the willing of more than 30 countries,” she said, adding that European countries were “stepping up on defence spending”.
Bobby Dean, a Liberal Democrat MP, said the strategy was “a document rooted in racist, white supremacist ideology and it should be called out accordingly”, arguing that “mild disagreement will not cut it”. [Continue reading…]