PMQs live: Starmer says Badenoch is putting ‘naked opportunism over national interest’ by siding with Trump on Chagos deal

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Ed Davey compares Trump to 'crime boss running protection racket', as Starmer says cutting ties with US 'foolhardy'

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, says Tony Blair ignore warnings from the Lib Dems and “tied himself to an unpopular American president and a disastrous foreign policy while close allies like Canada and France looked on in horror”.

He goes on:

With Donald Trump increasingly acting like a crime boss running a protection racket threatened to smash up our economy unless he gets his hands on Greenland.

Will the prime minister avoid Blair’s historic mistake, take our advice this time and join Prime Minister Carney and President Macron in standing up far more strongly to President Trump?

Starmer replies:

I said I will not yield on the principles and values that I uphold [and] this country’s policy in relation to the future of Greenland.

But the relationship with the US matters, especially on defence, security and intelligence, on nuclear capability, also on trade and prosperity.

Whilst [Davey is] trying to get sound bites, we mustn’t forget a war is raging in Europe. It is in its fourth year. The Russians are raining bombs down on Ukrainian civilians day and night. Temperatures were minus 25 last night. 60% without power. People are erecting tents to keep themselves warm. We have to work with our allies, including the US, on security guarantees, to make sure we can do what we must do in relation to Ukraine.

Now, that does not mean we agree with the US on everything … But it is foolhardy to think that we should rip up our relationship with the US, abandon Ukraine and stabilise all the things that are important to our defence, security and good.

Badenoch claims Starmer is consistently weak.

Starmer says he is trying to hold his party together. Badenoch is trying to hold her party together. He says she has terrible judgement, including saying Greenland was a second order issue.

Badenoch says she sacked Jenrick for undermining her party. If Starmer sacked everyone who undermined his party, there would be no one left on the front bench, she says.

Starmer says Badenoch is claiming sacking Jenrick was a sign of strength. But at that point she had already read his defection letter. What else was she going to do? Correct the typos and give it back.

Badenoch says she was talking about the Chagos Islands, not Greenland. She asks if it is true that there is a £28bn shortfall in the defence budget.

Starmer says he is spending more on defence. And he refers to the defection of Robert Jenrick.

Starmer says Trump's Chagos Islands comment was designed to put pressure on him to 'yield' over Greenland

Badenoch says Starmer did not say what Trump told him about Greenland. She repeats her criticism of the Chagos Islands deal.

Starmer says the Trump Chagos Islands comment was “expressly intended to put pressure on me to yield” over Greenland. He goes on:

What he said about trade offs was literally in the same sentence as what he said about Greenland. That was his purpose.

And the future of Greenland is a binary issue that is splitting the world at the moment, with material consequences.

I’ve been clear and consistent in my position on the future freelance, which is the future for Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark alone.

The leader of the opposition has taken three positions in ten days. Ten days ago, she said, Greenland was, in her words, a second order issue.

Now she is trying to undermining the government’s position, he says.

Starmer accuses Badenoch of putting 'naked opportunism over national interest' by siding with Trump on Chagos Islands

Badenoch says, if the people of Greenland should decide their future, why does that principle not apply to Chagossians.

Starmer says Donald Trump was making an argument about the Chagos Islands yesterday to defend his argument on Greenland. He was trying to change the UK’s position. Starmer says again he will not yeild on this.

He accuses Badenoch of now aligning with Trump by supporting his case on the Chagos Islands. He says she is putting “naked opportunism over the national interest”.

Starmer says he will not 'yield' on Greenland in response to threat of tariffs

Kemi Badenoch starts by welcoming Starmer following the Tory lead on a social media ban.

She says the future of Greenland should be decided by the people of Greenland. Did the US president agree when Starmer spoke to him.

Starmer says the future of Greenland is for the people of Greenland and Denmark alone.

He also says the tariff threats are completely wrong.

He says the Danish PM is coming to the UK tomorrow.

But he says he will not “yield” on Greenland under the threat of tariffs.

Jeevun Sandher (Lab) says the warm homes plan will make life more affordable for people. But he urges the government to do more.

Starmer says he is taking £150 off energy bills. The warm homes plan is the biggest ever public investment in upgrading homes, and will lift 1m homes out of fuel poverty.

Keir Starmer starts by saying he has spoken extensively to allies in the past few days, and he says he will continue to work constructively to resolve issues.

Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, says the president of the Norwegian parliament is in the gallery today.

From the Sun’s Jack Elsom

Robert Jenrick slots in between his new colleagues Lee Anderson and Sarah Pochin at his first PMQs as a Reform MP

The Liberal Democrats have also commented on Nigel Farage admitting declaring earnings late in the Commons register of members’ interests 17 times. (See 9.58am.) Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said:

Five Jobs Farage is spending far too much time jetting off to talk our country down in the US and cashing in from his GB News show.

Just like his idol Donald Trump, Farage thinks politics is all about lining his own pockets not serving the people. We can’t let Trump’s America become Farage’s Britain.

The Telegraph has headlined its report about Rachel Reeves’s comments earlier (see 10.35am) “Reeves warns Trump not to push Britain around”, which is not quite the way I understood it, but it would be a dull world if journalists always agreed. They are stressing her “Britain is not here to be buffeted around” line.