Asked why he decided to speak out, Major said: “I rather take the view that former prime ministers by and large should keep out of the way and leave it to the current generation, but sometimes there are things that need to be said that perhaps can’t be said so easily by the present government or by politicians in office that nonetheless need to be said.”.
Asked about Trump’s administration, Major called it “a form of presidency I haven’t previously seen”, and warned against the US president – who appears to be trying to reach an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by consulting more closely with the Russian president than Europe – avoiding conceding too much to Russia.
Major was scathing about Vance’s speech to the Munich security conference on Friday, in which he said the erosion of free speech in Europe was more of a threat to the continent than Russia or China.
Democracy across the globe is under threat from the retreat of Donald Trump’s US into isolationism, and its likely replacement by China on the world stage, John Major has said.
Major, who was in office from 1990 to 1997, also condemned JD Vance, the US vice-president, as hypocritical and “not statesmanlike” for lecturing Europe on free speech while “cuddling” Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
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