Is the “special relationship” between Britain and America still special, or has it gone a bit needy and not quite what it used to be?
Former UK trade minister Sir Conor Burns joins Harry Cole to spill the tea on everything from dodgy visas to London’s lost sparkle, Trump’s iron grip, and why British politicians seem about as effective as chocolate teapots.
Sir Conor says a number of Americans are asking what is going on in Britain under the Premiership of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. He says the US has anxieties about British free speech and the government’s “absurd” ideas about banning things.
Americans, he tells Harry, are also wondering why 350 million of them are meant to foot the bill for Europe’s defence, while Europe seems more interested in navel-gazing.
Burns says Britain’s lost its sense of shared values, diluting what made it great. and suggesting the UK is a warning for what happens when you lose values and control of borders. He also lays into former British PM Liz Truss, saying her reputation in the UK “is so badly tarnished”, that she damages causes that she seeks to support, and even criticises recent Tory to Reform defector Robert Jenrick for failing to act on issues when he was a minister.
