A GB News investigation has exposed Labour Cabinet ministers’ vehement campaigns to ban Donald Trump from visiting Britain in 2019 during his first Presidency.
The US leader was invited for an ‘unprecedented’ second state visit by King Charles in a letter Keir Starmer hand delivered to Trump on Thursday.
But not all of Starmer’s Cabinet are happy with their leader for cosying up to Trump, namely Anneliese Dodds.
The international development minister quit on Friday after Starmer slashed the foreign aid budget to raise defence spending, a move widely regarded as bending the knee to Trump’s demand for Britain to up its defence spending.
Sir Keir Starmer has been rocked with a shock resignation after Anneliese Dodds quit as International Development MinisterPAIt has prompted critics to ask whether anymore Labour government members will resign in protest of Starmer and Trump’s newfound bromance, especially given the toys-out-the-pram tantrum many threw when Trump visited in 2019.
The alternative is to be labelled a hypocrite by the left who will no doubt seize on Labour government members’ appeasement/endorsement of the visit as a betrayal of the woke elite.
Here GB News exposes Labour’s harshest critics of Trump’s visit back in 2019.
David Lammy / Foreign Secretary
Undoubtedly the most famous critic of Donald Trump is Starmer’s foreign secretary David Lammy.
Lammy has called Trump a ‘neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath’, a ‘KKK sympathiser’ and said “Donald Trump lies more times a day than the average person goes to the bathroom. Unsurprising given that all that comes out of his mouth is utter pooh.”
On Trump’s visit in 2029, Lammy was incandescent, stating: “Of course I will campaign against it. If I have to chain myself to the door of Number 10 this black man will do it.”
Lisa Nandy / Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
One of Starmer’s more well-known Cabinet colleagues, DCMS Secretary Lisa Nandy has been prolific in her denouncing of Trump.
On Trump’s 2019 visit to Britain, Nandy was enraged, tweeting: “This is not my Britain. If this disgraceful PM won’t stand up to Trump, she will find there are plenty of us who will.”
Whether Nandy will ‘stand up’ to Trump’s visit in 2025 by resigning her position in the government remains to be seen.
Steve Reed / Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Taking the prize for the most ardent Trump basher in Sir Keir’s cabinet is Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Reed has been unrelenting in his denunciations of Trump, frequently targeting both his character and his political actions.
Reed has called the President a ‘repulsive slimeball’, a ‘20th-century fascist’, ‘racist slime’, a ‘disgrace to his country’, and a ‘racist degenerate’.
The Defra secretary also heavily backed the campaign to block Trump from visiting Britain, stating ‘bigot alert’.
Ed Miliband / Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Ed Miliband has been incensed by Trump over the years, famously calling him a ‘racist bigot’ on Twitter.
Starmer’s energy secretary attended a march to stop Trump visiting Britain, stating his ‘racism, misogyny, attacks on democratic values seek to legitimise an authoritarian politics’ and were a ‘threat to society’.
Unfortunately for Ed Miliband and the Stop Trump Coalition, whose endorsers included the infamous hard-left Owen Jones, Trump’s visit went ahead.
Wes Streeting / Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Keir Starmer’s Health Secretary Wes Streeting is another arch Trump-basher, stating: “Trump is such an odious, sad, little man. Imagine being proud to have that as your President.”
Streeting also campaigned to stop Trump’s visit in 2019, sharing an article written by Saqiq Khan in the Guardian which called for then-PM May to reject Trump and stop rolling out the red carpet for the President.
Jo Stevens / Secretary of State for Wales
Starmer’s Welsh Secretary has been highly critical of Trump, regularly firing incensed tweets into the ether throughout his first Presidency.
Stevens attempted to ban Trump from addressing MPs in the House of Commons, urgin voters to lobby their MPs to do the same.
Ellie Reeves / Minister without Portfolio
Ellie Reeves, sister of the Chancellor, blasted Trump’s ‘blatant disregard for freedom, tolerance and respect for human rights’ in 2018, backing the campaign to bar him from Britain.
The minister without portfolio also accused Trump of tweeting hate fuelled propaganda.
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The resurfacing of various Labour MPs’ passionate campaign to ban Trump’s 2019 visit raises a fresh headache as they now find themselves in the government.
Do they go back on what they said in an attempt to win favour with Trump and keep on side with US-focused Starmer? This will no doubt invite accusations of hypocrisy.
Or do they stick to their guns, reiterate their hatred of Trump and win praise from the left, but harm Starmer’s charm offensive and potentially the British people as Trump considers a free trade agreement?
Keir Starmer handed the invite to Trump on his recent visit to the US where he had Trump discussed Ukraine, trade and the Chagos Islands.
Trump appeared to suggest Britain was close to securing a free trade agreement and even suggested he could approve the Chagos handover.
On Ukraine, Trump said they were close to a ‘quick deal’. A major part of the diplomacy came when Starmer revealed the invite from King Charles inside his suit jacket.
Trump said of Charles in the moment: “He is a great gentleman, a great, great gentleman. Oh, that’s – wow. Well, that is really nice.
“I must make sure his signature is on that. Otherwise, it’s not quite as meaningful. It is. It is and that’s quite a signature. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“He’s a beautiful man, a wonderful man and we appreciate – I’ve known him, gotten to know him very well, actually, first term and now second term.”
State visits tend to be in the autumn, so Labour Cabinet members will have a few months to decide what comes first, their principles or their leader’s charm offensive.