KEIR Starmer is “highly likely” to disregard growing calls to rescind the invitation to Donald Trump to visit the King in Scotland, according to a top political expert.
A growing petition to stop the US president from coming on his second state visit is virtually certain to be disregarded by the Prime Minister, said Dr Michael L. Frazer at Glasgow University.
The political theorist and author said that Starmer’s main concern would be the “future of US-UK relations” and public opinion would be sidelined.
Asked about the 38 Degrees petition demanding the visit be stopped, which has amassed 156,625 signatures at the time of writing, Dr Frazer said: “Politicians in democratic societies can face opposing pressures when navigating international relations.
“They always have to pay attention to public opinion, accountable as they are to the electorate. But they also have to pay attention to the balance of global power.
“Right now, Donald Trump may be profoundly unpopular in the UK, but he is also successfully centralising an unprecedented level of personal control over what remains the world's largest economic, military, and cultural force.”
Both the SNP and the Greens have called for Starmer to withdraw the offer after Trump gave Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a brutal dressing down in the White House on Friday.
The academic said that though the situation was “regrettable”, Starmer must keep Trump happy through “pageantry and flattery”.
He said: “In this instance, it is highly likely that the PM will allow considerations of international politics trump – pardon the expression – considerations about domestic opinion. With any luck, the second Trump administration will be over by the next UK General Election, and voters tend not to decide based on foreign policy regardless.
“In the meantime, though, the regrettable fact is that Keir Starmer's best bet for successfully navigating a dangerous global scene is by keeping Trump happy, and there's nothing that makes Trump happier than pageantry and flattery.
“A second state dinner is a small price to pay given everything that is at stake for the future of US/UK relations.”
The petition hit out at Trump for having “buddied up with Putin, cranked up tariffs on trade, slashed aid across the world and berated Ukrainian president Zelenskyy in the White House”.
It adds: “No date for the visit is set yet – so if we’re going to have any chance of stopping this happening, we need to act right now.
“A huge petition signed by hundreds of thousands of us will show Trump, the King and the PM how unwelcome the US president truly is. It’s the first step in stopping this terrible idea.”
