Britain must respect Donald Trump’s “strong and clear mandate for change”, Peter Mandelson has said, but Keir Starmer’s government could “always make our views known privately and directly” to the US president.
Respect Trump’s mandate, handle disputes ‘directly and privately’, says Peter Mandelson Britain’s ambassador to Washington says Starmer government can influence president and UK’s economic future depends in large part on investment from the US.
On how the UK could try to persuade Trump to change his position on certain policy areas without alienating his administration, Mandelson told the BBC: “Well, we’ve got to take all these issues as they come, realise that the president has a very strong and clear mandate for change in the US.
Mandelson acknowledged he was “concerned” about the looming prospect of tariffs and said Britain would “not necessarily agree” with every detail of the new US president’s agenda.
The president has previously suggested a deal could be done to exempt the UK from his wider agenda on tariffs, while claiming Britain is “out of line” in its trading relationship with the US.
