The Special Relationship is now broken beyond any repair and the US is highly probably lining up it's personnel, based on UK soil, to bully our European neighbours.
The US president speaks with forked tongue.
I agree but am sure someone will come on soon and say how reckless that would be for our own defence.
But ‘yes’ there is no special relationship and the UK like it’s European allies are starting to understand that this new world order means that the US should now be regarded as a potential enemy, every bit as dangerous as Russia or China.
We have just agreed to a 'mega' Chinese embassy.
If we get rid of the USA bases and turn our backs on USA military assistance, we just as well send an invitation to Putin.
It is very very unfortunate, but Europe is locked into USA military assistance.
Putin would be jumping for joy at that prospect, lets wait and see what actually happens and deal with any issues then.
Trump is not immortal.
I do however think that there is merit in working much closer with Europe and Canada and anyone else who is interested in not being dependent on Trump.
Carney is proving to be an excellent politician.
Crikey that is somewhat premature mael13. Watch and wait to see what happens first. Trump is not omnipotent.
The problem here is that its a provocative and unhelpful O/P
(in the style of Trump himself)
It asks us how to react to a situation that does not exist.
It would be more helpful to ask how do we think and feel about US bases, given the new regime in Washington, not starting from a situation where there is total breakdown.
What would we like to see, what we might find unacceptable, and so on.
The mid term elections are only 10 months away. There is likely to be an increase in the number of Democrats in both the House of Representatives and Senate. This means Republicans being defeated.
How Trump reacts to this could be interesting. It could be the last straw and he will be come so obviously not in his right mind that he will have to be replaced. However his replacement would be Vance, be careful what you wish for.
Yep Vance is very much out of the frying pan and into a volcanic inferno.
Even if it would be imprudent to kick the US off their UK bases, I think it would be a very good idea to terminate contracts with Palantir, which holds all our NHS data, now has a huge contract with our military.
UK MPs have raised concerns about the government’s contracts with Palantir after an investigation published in Switzerland highlighted allegations about the suitability and security of its products.
The investigation by the Zurich-based research collective WAV and the Swiss online magazine Republik details Palantir’s efforts, over the course of seven years, to sell its products to Swiss federal agencies.
Palantir is a US company that provides software to integrate and analyse data scattered across different systems, such as in the health service. It also provides artificial intelligence-enabled military targeting systems.
The investigation cites an expert report, internal to the Swiss army, that assessed Palantir’s status as a US company meant there was a possibility sensitive data shared with it could be accessed by the US government and intelligence services.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/22/mps-question-uk-palantir-contracts-security-concerns-investigation
Whitewavemark2
If we get rid of the USA bases and turn our backs on USA military assistance, we just as well send an invitation to Putin.
It is very very unfortunate, but Europe is locked into USA military assistance.
I agree.
It would be sheer idiocy to do what the OP suggests.
In my view, there never was a "special relationship" unless it is defined by one country (USA) treating another (UK) as a pet poodle.
The trouble is we have accepted this situation for many, many years and have, to some extent, lost the nerve to draw the line. Only Harold Wilson was brave enough to resist the USA's request that we help them in the Vietnam War - thank goodness for that.
It is all very well for people, admittedly understandably, to demand that Starmer tell Trump, in no uncertain terms, where to get off. The problem is that Trump is powerful and, perhaps more importantly, has many very powerful people and multinationals behind him. They can do enormous damage to any country that displeases them. I hope we can stay united and determined in standing with many of the European countries (though not all of them - I believe Italy and Spain have been fairly muted in their responses to Trump's outrageous threats).
Why is it so many of the leaders of powerful countries are such awful (and dangerous) people?
Whitewavemark2
I do however think that there is merit in working much closer with Europe and Canada and anyone else who is interested in not being dependent on Trump.
Carney is proving to be an excellent politician.
Wouldn’t it be great if we had someone like that in this country. Oh, hang on, we did have him. And people ignored him…
MayBee70
Whitewavemark2
I do however think that there is merit in working much closer with Europe and Canada and anyone else who is interested in not being dependent on Trump.
Carney is proving to be an excellent politician.Wouldn’t it be great if we had someone like that in this country. Oh, hang on, we did have him. And people ignored him…
Yes. He has been the one leader that has shown intelligence in standing up to Trump.
Oreo
Whitewavemark2
If we get rid of the USA bases and turn our backs on USA military assistance, we just as well send an invitation to Putin.
It is very very unfortunate, but Europe is locked into USA military assistance.I agree.
It would be sheer idiocy to do what the OP suggests.
Presidents come and go.
The NATO alliance is more important than just one American President.
The UK is not the only European country where there are American military bases.
They are located in at least seven countries.
Picking a fight with the Americans is a seriously bad idea. As Allira says, presidents come and go . The rest of us aren’t exactly shining lights with the calibre of our leaders,either.
nanna8
Picking a fight with the Americans is a seriously bad idea. As Allira says, presidents come and go . The rest of us aren’t exactly shining lights with the calibre of our leaders,either.
Of course, you think that Starmer is as bad, don’t you! Trump has got three more years. Look at the damage he’s caused in the short time he’s been in office.
Carney made an excellent speech in Davos yesterday, nice to see such an eloquent , polished and well groomed politician. Basically he said “ don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
I agree with having a go at getting rid of Palantir.
I think Starmer is really ,really bad. Chinese embassy in the middle of London will make it very easy for his Communist mates to spy on you.
It was Boris Johnson who sold the site to the Chinese.
And Johnson was actually really, really bad.
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