Keir Starmer will support Canada’s determination to remain a sovereign independent nation, against pressure from Donald Trump for it to become America’s 51st state.
In a briefing to journalists en route to the G7 meeting of the leaders of wealthy democracies, Starmer said: “Let me be absolutely clear: Canada is an independent, sovereign country and a much-valued member of the Commonwealth.”
He is meeting Canada’s new prime minister Mark Carney – who used to be governor of the Bank of England – in Ottawa today and tomorrow.
Carney recently won Canada’s general election by loudly and proudly telling Trump that his country will never be part of America. His defiance helped his party to eliminate its huge deficit in opinion polls.
Starmer is hopeful of increasing trade between Canada and Britain, perhaps by negotiating a new trade agreement. But Starmer pointed out there is already “£28bn worth of trade between the UK and Canada as it stands.”
He added: “One of the things I want to do is to open the door to taking out further…reducing our trade barriers with Canada. So I’m really clear where we stand on that.”
Of the world leaders who will meet in Alberta on Monday and Tuesday, only Italy’s Georgia Meloni probably has a closer relations to Trump.
Starmer didn’t rule out acting as a bridge or go-between between G7 leaders and the American president.
He said: “I have got a good relationship with President Trump, and that’s important, as you can see from the fact that we had a discussion yesterday about the urgent situation in relation to Israel and Iran.
“I’m very pleased that I have developed good relations with all the G7 leaders to the point where I have very good relations with all of them.”
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