Keir Starmer braces for 'Trump 2.0' in White House

Keir Starmer congratulated Donald Trump on his 'historic victory' today as he scrambles to prop up the Special Relationship.

The Republican is set for an extraordinary return to the presidency, with the world braced for his bullish approach.

And Sir Keir is facing a huge challenge after tensions flared over Labour supporters helping to campaign for the Democrat contender. 

The PM has also repeatedly clashed with billionaire Elon Musk, who looks certain to end up playing a key role in the Trump administration.

Sir Keir said in a statement this morning: 'Congratulations President-elect Trump on your historic election victory. I look forward to working with you in the years ahead.

'As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.

'From growth and security to innovation and tech, I know that the UK-US special relationship will continue to prosper on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come.'

Foreign Secretary David Lammy - who once branded Mr Trump a 'neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath' - said: 'The UK has no greater friend than the US, with the special relationship being cherished on both sides of the Atlantic for more than 80 years. We look forward to working with you and @JDVance in the years ahead.'

Sir Keir ordered Cabinet ministers to stay silent on the election for fear of further inflaming the situation. But MPs have been unable to resist expressing their dismay on social media this morning.

Nigel Farage has warned that Britain must 'roll out the red carpet' for Mr Trump to repair the damage.  

Meanwhile, jubilant Reform MPs have been demanding that Sir Keir uses Mr Farage's close friendship with Mr Trump. 

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Government sources have been playing up a private dinner Sir Keir and Foreign Secretary David Lammy had with Mr Trump in New York in September, insisting they had struck up a good relationship. 

But during the bitter campaign Mr Trump's team filed an official complaint with federal election authorities accusing Labour of making 'illegal foreign national contributions'.

Around 100 activists travelled to swing states to canvass for the Harris ticket - although Labour insisted they went at their own expense. 

There was also anger that senior figures from the party went to the Democratic National Convention in August and met Harris aides. The two parties have long-term ties.  

In interviews at the Commonwealth summit in Samoa last month, Sir Keir tried to gloss over fears the spat could derail the Special Relationship if Mr Trump wins.

He insisted that the situation needed to be 'put in perspective' as volunteers from parties have gone to help out in 'every previous election'. 

As a backbench MP in 2018, Mr Lammy wrote in Time magazine: 'Trump is not only a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath.

'He is also a profound threat to the international order that has been the foundation of Western progress for so long.'

And in a 2018 Times article ahead of Trump's first visit to the UK, Lammy committed to be one of 'tens of thousands on the streets, protesting against our government's capitulation to this tyrant in a toupee.'

In a round of interviews yesterday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting was asked for his views on the election.

A 'Neo-Nazi sympathiser' and a 'sad little man': The rash comments about Trump that Labour ministers are trying to forget  

KEIR STARMER

Last year, Sir Keir compared the Conservative Party with Mr Trump as he accused the Tories of falling far from Churchillian values.

'Is there anybody in the Government now who feels a sense of obligation to anything other than their own self-interest? To democracy, the rule of law, serving our country?' he asked in a speech in Buckinghamshire.

'An entitlement to power totally unchecked by any sense of service or responsibility - that's the cultural stain that runs through the modern Conservative Party.'

He added: 'These aren't Churchill's Tories any more. If anything they behave more and more like Donald Trump. They look at the politics of America and they want to bring that here.

'It's all woke, woke, woke. Wedge, wedge, wedge. Divide, divide, divide.'

In June, the prime minister said following Mr Trump's hush money trial conviction that it was an 'unprecedented situation'.

'We will work with whoever is elected president ... that's what you'd expect,' Sir Keir said.

'We have a special relationship with the US that transcends whoever the president is, but it is an unprecedented situation, there is no doubt about that.'

In the lead up to this year's US presidential election, Sir Keir maintained that the Government will work with whoever is president.

FOREIGN SECRETARY DAVID LAMMY 

In 2017, Mr Lammy called Mr Trump a 'racist and KKK/neo-Nazi sympathiser'.

A year later, the Tottenham MP wrote in Time magazine that he would be protesting against the then-government's 'capitulation to this tyrant in a toupee', in reference to Mr Trump's first official visit to the UK.

'Trump is not only a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath,' Mr Lammy wrote, 'he is also a profound threat to the international order that has been the foundation of Western progress for so long.'

Asked about his past comments earlier this year, Mr Lammy said: 'Where I can find common cause with Donald Trump, I will find common cause'.

He offered his congratulations to Mr Trump on Wednesday morning, saying: 'We look forward to working with you and @JDVance in the years ahead.'

DEPUTY PM ANGELA RAYNER 

Ms Rayner has publicly criticised Mr Trump more than once in posts on X, formerly Twitter.

On the day of the Capitol Hill riots in 2021, she tweeted: 'The violence that Donald Trump has unleashed is terrifying, and the Republicans who stood by him have blood on their hands.'

Later in January that year, Ms Rayner said of the inauguration of Joe Biden as president: 'I am so happy to see the back of Donald Trump, but even more so to see @KamalaHarris as VP.'

HEALTH SECRETARY WES STREETING 

In 2017, Mr Streeting called Trump an 'odious, sad little man' in a post on X.

'Imagine being proud to have that as your president,' he added.

Asked on Tuesday about the social media post, the Health Secretary told Good Morning Britain: 'The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have been working hard to build a relationship with President Trump and his team, so that in the event that he is elected as the next president of the United States, we start with the strong working relationship which is in our national interest and in the interests of the United States as well.'

ENERGY SECRETARY ED MILIBAND  

Mr Miliband labelled Mr Trump a 'groper' and a 'racist' in November 2016.

'The idea that we have shared values with a racist, misogynistic, self-confessed groper beggars belief,' Mr Miliband told the BBC.

'And I think we should be deeply worried about the implications for many of the things that we care about. Tackling climate change - he says it's invented by the Chinese, climate change, it's a hoax. His attitude to Russia.

'And then this fantasy about trade. I mean, this guy is anti-trade. He's an odd combination of protectionism, plus the old trickle-down formula that has got us into a lot of this mess in the first place.'

He joked 'I've got lots of thoughts but not ones I'm going to share as a government minister.' 

Mr Streeting was challenged about a 2017 social media post where he described Trump as an 'odious, sad, little man', adding: 'Imagine being proud to have that as your President.'

He told Good Morning Britain: 'The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have been working hard to build a relationship with President Trump and his team, so that in the event that he is elected as the next president of the United States, we start with the strong working relationship which is in our national interest and in the interests of the United States as well.

'And it's not often I would pray and aid Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform Party but, as he said overnight, President Trump, you know, he speaks as he finds.

'He had a very good meeting with Keir Starmer not too long ago, and of course, he'll be aware of things that we've we've all said in the past…'

Mr Streeting said: 'The important thing about this relationship, this transatlantic relationship, is one of the most important alliances that Britain has.

'We have shared values and shared strategic interests, and with war on our continent, in Ukraine, war in the Middle East and wider geopolitical threats, it is in the UK and United States' national interests to work closely together. 

'That won't change, whoever the occupant of the Oval Office is, and we only have hours now to wait until polls close.'

Senior government sources have poured cold water on Mr Farage's suggestion that he could act as a 'conduit' between his old ally Mr Trump and the UK government. 

'That's good of him,' one said witheringly.