Can Starmer walk the line as the ring of fire beckons closer on the US, NATO & Greenland?

For those fans of Johnny Cash reading this, yes the headline is a nod to his work. But it also doubles up for some lovely imagery – stick with me here.

The Prime Minister finds himself again in a position of having to tread incredibly carefully, trying to balance as best he can both the maintenance of the so-called ‘special relationship’ his relationships with allies in Europe and his own moral judgement – and Like it or not, Keir Starmer is having to walk the line.

With every step the PM takes though, the all-encompassing ring of fire seems ever closer to burning him. The fire, in this case of course being the one and only, President Donald J Trump.

After weeks of increased tensions regarding the situation over Greenland, Starmer and his fellow NATO members face the uncomfortable reality of trying to predict just how far President Trump will actually go. It feels fair to conclude that things really are unprecedented on the geopolitical stage at present.

Starmer played it as safe as he could over Venezuela, clearly trying to upset as few apple-carts as possible in his stance. While Labour backbenchers pressured the government and voiced their frustration with the lack condemnation of US military intervention in the South American nation, Starmer and his Foreign Secretary stood firm. There were insinuations that discussions to voice concerns would be had behind closed doors.

It is understandable that NATO skeptics on both the left and the right would be looking at this moment as the perfect opportunity to make their case for the flaws they feel exist in the West’s strategic security alliance. NATO has long been the cause of debate and discomfort on the left. Broadly speaking, it is relatively consistent that those who sit closer to the political centre, while being on the left, advocate for NATO’s benefits, especially given the current context and nature of the Russian conflict in Ukraine.

However, there are also those, typically further out on the left wing spectrum, that criticise NATO as an arm of US power. One that promotes spending on militarism and defence, taking tax payer resources away from domestic social needs such as health care or education and benefitting arms dealers in the process.

This naturally places a broad church party of the left, such as Labour, in an interesting position with its membership. As with many political topics the range of feeling towards an organisation like NATO is rather large. Today though, a new internal network has arisen, with the ambition of championing Britain’s involvement in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to a Labour audience.

READ MORE: Labour MPs, peers and activists form Labour Friends of NATO network

The Labour Friends of NATO (LFN) network has launched with a desire to combat those who wish to see a weaker relationship between Britain and its allies, from either side of the political spectrum. The network is formed of a mix of backbench MPs, peers and activists, with the aim to do this through providing educational material and openly advocating for the UK to maintain a close relationship with the organisation.

With Labour’s Atlee government of the post war 1940s being heavily involved in the early set up of NATO, this group are keen to point out the close ties our party has to the collective security alliance.

However, as tensions rumble on overseas, it is difficult to know what state NATO will be in as an organisation as and when the dust settles. Trump still sounds immovable on Greenland and Starmer has to walk a public tightrope as gracefully as he can on the matter. Just as with Venezuela, it is clear Starmer is doing what he can to avoid as much chance of provoking Trump, and the US, in the glare of the media. The PM’s press conference yesterday morning was another example of considered wording and careful responses as the UK press posed difficult questions.

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Equally, after setting out his position clearly, he has still managed to aggravate Trump enough to cause direct criticism of the UK government on the president’s social media network, Truth Social. President Trump took a direct swipe at the UK government over the Chagos deal, referring to the decision on Diego Garcia as an act of ‘great stupidity’. Trump also took the opportunity to use this criticism as a means to further suggest that the US must ‘acquire’ Greenland.

Only time will tell how the special relationship endures this challenging period.

Even if the Starmer does manage to walk the line well enough that the UK-US relationship can continue on with minimal bruising, talk of a potential tariff war between the US and European Union (where the majority of countries are also NATO members) could still see damage done on the collective security front.

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While I think it is generally good to see a network of NATO friends within Labour that can encourage discussion about the nation’s strategic alliances at a time of increased international tensions, I can’t help but wonder if the same NATO they support now will still exist as we know it if the current directional trajectory continues.

I think the only thing left to wish the Prime Minister, as he attempts to place another foot forward on this seemingly never ending tightrope, is the very best of luck.

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