Badenoch says US being realistic and UK needs ‘to be so too’

Kemi Badenoch has suggested that the US has been “realistic” and is acting in its own national interests and the UK needs to act similarly.

The Conservative Party leader also said she “wouldn’t be afraid” to call Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator if it were her heading to the White House for talks with US President Donald Trump this week rather than Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Trump has been demanding that Europe spends more on defence, while the transatlantic approach to the war in Ukraine has come under strain after US interventions such as the US president suggesting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a “dictator”.

Her comments came in a speech and Q&A event with the Policy Exchange in which she also warned that spending 2.5% of GDP on defence would not be enough, and also suggested that the UK would have to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if it stops the country from doing “what is right” for the national interest.

Asked whether Mr Trump has become a threat to UK interests, Mrs Badenoch told a think tank event that Washington shares the “same Western values” as Britain.

“Let me be clear, the US is not an authoritarian regime,” she said.

“It shares those same Western values that we share – free trade, free enterprise, free speech – but what we see it doing is acting in its national interests.

“It is being realistic, and we need to be so too.”

The Prime Minister is flying to America for talks with Mr Trump later this week.

It comes as the transatlantic alliance on the war in Ukraine has been put under severe strain by the president’s approach to ending the conflict, opening talks with Mr Putin, branding Mr Zelensky a “dictator” and suggesting Kyiv’s forces were to blame for the war.

Asked what she would say to Mr Trump following his recent comments if it was her heading to Washington this week, Mrs Badenoch said she “wouldn’t be afraid to” say that Mr Putin is a dictator.

She described the US as an “ally” but said that being an ally is not just about “telling people what they want to hear”.

“America is an ally, but I’ve been very clear that I disagree with President Trump when he said that President Zelensky was a dictator. Vladimir Putin is a dictator, and I wouldn’t be afraid to say so,” the Tory leader told the Policy Exchange event.

“But I also would be saying things that he and I would agree with, which is that we need to spend more on defence.

“And the relationship, even with friends and allies, isn’t about just telling people what they want to hear.

“It’s about speaking the truth.”

Mrs Badenoch’s comments about the US came in a question and answer session after a wide-ranging speech on foreign policy.

During her address she had said that it was “absolutely critical” that Sir Keir “succeeds” in his talks with Mr Trump this week, but also said that Government plans to get to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence are “no longer sufficient”.

She urged the Prime Minister to consider redirecting welfare and development aid cash towards defence.

“I will back the Prime Minister in taking those difficult decisions to increase defence spending,” she said.

“For example, he should consider whether some of the 0.5% currently spent on development aid should be repurposed, at least in the short term, towards defence and security. And he should also look at making welfare savings to fund increased defence expenditure.”

Mrs Badenoch also suggested that the UK would “probably” have to leave the ECHR if it stops the country from doing “what is right”, after telling attendees that the UK needs to “disengage” with international organisations “taken over by activists or autocratic regimes”.

During last year’s Conservative leadership campaign the issue of immigration had featured heavily and Mrs Badenoch had said that “if necessary” the UK should leave “international frameworks like the ECHR” .

She drew reference to the ECHR in her speech as she said that international law should not be used by non-government organisations to “advance a political agenda” through the courts system.

“If international bodies are taken over by activists, or by autocratic regimes like China or Russia, we must use our influence to stop them, and if that fails, we will need to disengage,” she said.

Asked for further clarity on her position when it comes to the ECHR, she said: “When it comes to the ECHR, I have always been very clear that the ECHR should not stop us from doing what is right for the people of this country and what is right in our national interest.

“And if it continues to do so, at some point we will probably have to leave.

“What I have not agreed with is deciding that we should leave without having a plan for what that looks like and how to do so in a way that makes sense.

“We still believe in the rules based order. We have to because we are a trading nation.”