Keir Starmer needs to find his backbone – and stand up to Trump

The Eskimos of Nunavik famously have more than 50 words for snow. The Brits have around 188 words for rain. And right now we are learning all the different connotations that diplomats, world leaders, and politicians have found to avoid telling Donald Trump he’s wrong.

Trump has found a new way to gaslight the world – calling Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator who started Ukraine’s war.Put aside for a moment everything you know about Trump’s personal penchant for attempting to overturn the will of the American people when he loses an election – and listen to what he’s saying. He’s parroting everything Vladimir Putin wants to hear.



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addToArray({"pos": "inread-hb-ros-inews"}); }Zelensky called this out, telling the world the US president was “living in a disinformation space governed by Moscow”. It’s the closest a statesman may ever come to calling Trump a conspiracy-programmed Russian bot in other words. And it’s hard to argue with that right now.

Once Zelensky told the US President he was Putin’s mouthpiece, it was over to everyone else to decide what to do. Sir Keir Starmer was one of the first to reassert his support for Zelensky. The Ukrainian leader will be reassured to hear the UK PM tell him that he is not a dictator.

Kemi Badenoch swiftly followed – calling Putin’s invasion illegal and Zelensky the democratic leader. But that support opens up a chasm of things unsaid. And the word salad is excruciating.

Lisa Nandy – UK Culture Secretary – addressed the need to “dial it down”, to “take the heat out” of the conversations between Zelensky and Trump. Peter Mandelson, our actual ambassador in Washington, merely told Sky News the Trump speech was “interesting”. Badenoch turned her fire on Nigel Farage for loving Putin, and Farage belatedly clarified that Zelensky “is not a dictator”.

No criticism of Trump here, the eagle-eyed will spot.if(window.adverts) { window.

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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l1"}); }If our politicians know that Zelensky is the rightful president of Ukraine, then are they prepared to tell Trump he’s wrong? Do they recognise, more fundamentally, that Trump has switched sides in this war? He wants Ukraine to fall. He wants Russia to feel victory.

He wants – at its most Freudian basic level – to be liked by Putin who he admires. And if they do realise that – as presumably pretty much every fan of democracy now does – then why are they unable to say it out loud?The answer, of course, is fear. And a misguided assumption that old fashioned diplomacy in the age of Trump still works.

I’m not sure it does. The Ferrero Rocher days are over. The after-dinner chocolates and the tinkling of brandy glasses in a hushed wood-panelled study belong to a Disney+ fantasy of negotiation.

It has got us nowhere in real terms.Of course Trump needs flattery. The narcissist in chief is easily pleased by simple shiny things.

You say nice words, and if you’re lucky you get a good soundbite back. But that doesn’t ultimately solve the problem.He invited Theresa May to Washington – his first foreign state visit – she memorably even held his hand.

But he publicly shafted her at the first sign Boris Johnson was gaining ground.He called Johnson “Britain Trump”. The title was as ambiguously insulting as the grammar was awkward.

A phrase, that as ever, made no sense – but hinted – that Johnson was in Trump’s orbit. He was, and then he wasn’t. They swapped phone numbers.

But the UK never got its much-vaunted, post-Brexit trade deal. And then Trump was gone.Starmer heads off to Washington next week with his head down.

He wants to please Trump, not confront him. And that all sounds fine. He thinks that calming the waters will get Trump’s tariffs off Britain’s back.

It will, for a day. Until he changes his mind again.#color-context-related-article-3546151 {--inews-color-primary: #3759B7;--inews-color-secondary: #EFF2FA;--inews-color-tertiary: #3759B7;} Read Next square ALISON PHILLIPS I hate to say it but it's time to bring back Boris JohnsonRead MoreNo one wants to pick a fight with the man who – in world terms – holds all the cards.

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addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l2"}); }But sooner or later, let’s face it, we probably have to. Otherwise what is the point of ever being in power. Trump loves what we’ve euphemistically started to call “strongmen”.

Most of them are not strong in the sense of courageous. They’re strong because they bully – neighbouring states, their own electorates, the minorities that live amongst them. Trump has never hidden his admiration of autocrats.

Those who push others around through threats, intimidation, falsehood and military dominance. Where are the voices prepared to speak out now?Because you cannot just support the downtrodden without calling out the bully.The passive tense works in prose.

But it doesn’t work in leadership.Over to Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president who – let’s remember – faced direct death threats during the 6 January riots by shills who blamed him for not perpetuating Trump’s election lies. This quietly spoken, grey-haired man – who says he puts god before country – issued a statement that in today’s America was what Orwell would call “a revolutionary act”.

He began the post graciously: “Mr President, Ukraine did not start this war.” He ended it with a bombshell: “The road to peace must be built on truth”. That’s the nearest the American right has come to calling Trump a liar this week.

He is surrounded by Republican senators who are squirming in their own responses. Mealy-mouthed weasel words that clarify their support for Ukraine without criticising the man who’s forcing the country to surrender. Congress, as they say, is full of shivers looking for a spine to crawl up.

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addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l3"}); }A former VP learnt the hard way – after an attempt on his life. But there are easier ways to do it. Particularly when it’s second time around.

Because make no mistake – this doesn’t end with Ukraine. It’s only just begun – the first month of a four-year term.Let’s be honest: whatever the diplomatic strategy, Britain won’t take home lasting prizes from Trump’s America.

We never do.But we can emerge with clarity, integrity and class. We need to come away from this with backbone.

Somewhere for the shivers to land.Emily Maitlis is a journalist, broadcaster and host of the podcast The News Agents..