As Donald Trump has become the 47th president of the United States on 20 January, the moment is approaching for Britain to end the so-called ‘special relationship’ altogether. There are three compelling reasons why it should go:
- Trump’s crimes and his contempt for the law
- The influence and interference of Elon Musk
- The 80th anniversary of the end of World War II
Let’s look at each in turn.
Trump’s crimes and contempt for the law
Trump is a convicted criminal. He’s been found guilty of 34 felonies and for trying to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels over a sexual relationship he had with her – he escaped any meaningful sanction because he was so close to taking office but he was also found guilty of another sexual assault, against E. Jean Carroll.
Trump was under investigation in three other cases: illegal possession of classified documents, the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021 (special counsel Jack Smith concluded in the evidence he had assembled that Trump was guilty and would likely face a prison sentence) and attempts to subvert the 2020 election result in Georgia. In every instance, he has refused to accept that he has done anything wrong and continues to fight the judgments. That contempt for the law is already infecting his administration.
There is the blatant challenge to the international legal order. Recently, Congress decided to ignore the sanction of the International Criminal Court over the behaviour of the Israeli government and its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Gaza. Meanwhile, Trump is openly speaking about claiming other countries’ territory – notably the Panama Canal and Greenland – as American. He’s even suggested making Canada an extension of the USA. It may be just a case of him shooting his mouth off, but he is clearly emboldened by the precedent set by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.
Disdain for minorities
Trump is equally disdainful of the rights of minority groups, women and immigrants. He has a record of remarks that are seen as fuelling racism in the USA. His conservative supporters do not accept women’s rights – the repeal of Roe v. Wade being a prime example – and his rhetoric towards immigrants is inflammatory to the point of inciting violence, repeatedly characterising them as murderers and rapists without providing evidence.
Trump holds grudges and many believe that this illustrates his determination to get even with those who tried to hold him to account. Post-Brexit, the UK wants to repair the self-inflicted economic damage, hence Rachel Reeves’ recent trade trip to China, but Trump already dislikes China and is promising tariffs on their goods. He may well see any deal between London and Beijing as a slight against the USA and is likely to take it personally.
Since leaving the EU, Britain has been desperate to bolster its image as a serious, law-abiding country. Maintaining cordial relations with America is necessary but this country’s reputation will suffer further damage if it continues aligning itself closely with an America hell-bent on disregarding the rule of law and profiteering, an America led by someone with a legal conviction and a vindictive, bullying nature who is fundamentally untrustworthy and dishonest. Boris Johnson was dumped by Britain for similar reasons. We should take such a stand against Trump.
The Musk factor
Musk is a private citizen, so has no business interfering in British politics. He has undoubtedly made electric cars seem cool and his Space X project is providing interesting competition for NASA. However, when we learn that he’s being advised by Dominic Cummings, of all people, on how to get Keir Starmer removed as prime minister or potentially donating huge sums to Nigel Farage’s Reform, he is becoming dangerous.
While it was good to see Starmer taking Musk on, it’s noticeable how the latter’s actions are reported. The BBC regularly refers to his comments as being from “the world’s richest man”, as though this confers credibility or political legitimacy on what he is saying, even though he’s not been elected to any political office. Why does the BBC think Musk has anything pertinent to say about child abuse in the UK when he is hand-in-glove with a convicted rapist and former close friend of Jeffrey Epstein? When complaints were made about his comments, they defended themselves by saying as Musk “will be part of President’s Trump’s administration when he returns to the White House, (his) views on US and UK politics are relevant and worth noting”.
No, they aren’t. His remarks may have “reignited the debate around child grooming gangs”, according to the BBC, but the BBC haven’t reported the statistics published by the Centre of Expertise on child sexual abuse that show the majority of defendants in child abuse cases were white British (p. 36). That’s not balanced or informative journalism, it’s peddling misinformation.
The ‘tech bros’ chip in
It isn’t just Musk. Suddenly other individuals with immense wealth and no electoral mandate are involved. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have joined Musk and aligned with Trump. In his farewell speech to Americans, Joe Biden warned against this developing oligarchy.
These individuals – dubbed ‘broligarchs’ by Carole Cadwalladr – use their money to manipulate people’s opinions and represent a significant danger to stability everywhere. Zuckerberg has decided to do away with independent fact-checking on Facebook, allowing any old nonsense to be posted there and believed by the gullible. Cadwalladr has warned about this and suggested what we can do to counter it. Given that she also did this – and was ignored – over the way the Brexit referendum was influenced, she may be disappointed.
Musk and the others may be entrepreneurial, but one thing unites them – their hatred of regulations. You can bet your life that any UK trade deal with America will see them insist on cutting the protections that such regulations provide, to give their businesses a competitive advantage. Farming would certainly be in the firing line, as would personal health data. Brexit has already weakened the UK considerably – it wouldn’t stand a chance.
80 years is enough
One final reason to ditch the relationship is the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Those most grateful for American involvement against the Nazis are dead. There are new threats to the UK everywhere you look and this time, if Trump carries out his threats to leave NATO unless member states raise defence spending, America will not be riding to the rescue as it did in the 1940s.We do have a special relationship that matters – and it’s with the EU. The government should get on with rebuilding as many links with them as they can as quickly as possible because a relationship with a sexual predator and criminal isn’t a relationship at all. It’s abuse and no self-respecting country should touch it.
