Keir Starmer humiliated as top US senator compares him to gonorrhea | Politics | News
The Prime Minister has been told to splash the cash (Image: Getty)
A top US senator has roasted Sir Keir Starmer, saying that that he is polling up there with gonorrhea. Republican John Kennedy, who represents Louisiana, spoke out against the UK’s level of defence spending, suggesting that Britain is not going to spend any “serious money” until 2030. The government has said it has a target of spending 2.5% of GDP on the military by April 2027, and 3% by 2029. There is a long-term ambition to increase this to 3.5% of GDP by 2035.
President Donald Trump said on his social media site Truth Social in March: “The UK used to have a great military, the best, but now it’s hollowed out. Very sad! They have no ships, no planes, and they expect the American Taxpayer to do all the work. We’re not the world’s piggy bank anymore. Keir needs to stop talking and start writing checks. 2.5% is a joke. 5% OR ELSE!”
Senator Kennedy said: “I say this gently and respectfully: It’s time for the political leadership in the United Kingdom to embrace adulthood, and it’s time for them to start paying their bills, and time for them to start spending money on the military.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer hit by nightmare poll a week before local elections
READ MORE: ‘A deadly new poison has entered UK politics – coming to a council near you’
“Now, I know the Prime Minister said we’re going to do better, and he and some of our other allies in Europe are talking about now spending 3.5% of their GDP on defence, and another 1.5% on infrastructure in support of defence.
“It’s a lot of talk so far.”
He added that he had read the British government’s plans, but the increase in spending is “backend loaded”.
“It’s not going to happen,” the senator said.
“They’re not really going to spend any serious money until 2030, and I can assure you that Sir Keir will not be around as prime minister of the United Kingdom in September or October or January of 2030.
“He’s struggling now, his poll numbers – I probably shouldn’t say this, but it’s true – he’s polling right up there with Garrhea in terms of popularity. That’s just a fact.
“So I do celebrate the special relationship that we have, and I do want us to be closer, but the political leadership in the United Kingdom has got to do its part. This is supposed to be a partnership.”
Donald Trump has criticised the UK’s military spending (Image: Getty)
In April, Rachel Reeves signalled her unwillingness to raise taxes to pay for increased defence spending having already hiked the burden “substantially”.
The Chancellor said she “would prefer not to have to do that again”.
Ms Reeves also insisted she had “provided the biggest uplift of defence spending since the end of the Cold War”.
She said: “National security always comes first, and I will always do the right thing as Chancellor to protect our country.”
The Chancellor added: “The biggest beneficiaries of my spending review last year were the NHS budget and the defence budget. Both of those saw big uplifts reflecting the choices that we’re making as a government.
“We are working through the defence investment plan. It’s a 10-year plan, so it is important that we get it right and we’re spending the money on the right things.
“There’s a lot of focus on the quantum of the money, but actually what is more important is how that money is spent and whether it is meeting the defence needs that we have as a country, and we’re working through that detail at the moment.
“I think people have seen that I’m willing to make difficult choices and sort of challenge the orthodoxy through what I did last year to realise more money for defence.”
