Im no fan of Starmer but …

[BettyWhittaker]

I am very anti - Labour government, have never voted Labour in my life and never would and I hope an early GE is called …

BUT - AIBU to think he really couldn’t have handled Trump any better than he had? Christ the man is completely unhinged, his behaviour is getting worse and worse - AIBU to think Starmer really couldn’t have done more to handle this?

I thought his statement yesterday was pretty good. Let’s just hope the mad man gets taken out of office before he kicks off another bloody war

Also “yes, Daily Mail, here are our plans for how we plan to deal with Greenland. Be sure not to let Trump know our plans though, there’s a good chap.”

I think Trump is past thinking like that, once maybe but his actions now are of someone who is not in control of this thoughts anymore.

He is 79 after all.

Same here!

I like Keir (have worked with him previously) and think he's handling the situation really well. Certainly better than any of the alternatives!

There's a documentary about Trump which was a fascinating watch.

Its obvious watching him now that he conducts his dealings with other world leaders the way he conducts/conducted his business deals while building the Trump brand for years.

You ask for what you want with veiled threats.
If the answer is no you find a way get it anyway. Any.way.at.all.

There's no such thing as 'no' for him. America first is now just the new Trump Brand first.

You are either his lap dog or you are just a nuisance.

Kier Starmer is a statesman and an intelligent political operator.
Sadly, he is also the leader of a party who have inherited the results of a 14 year austerity shitshow, off the back of a global pandemic, and during the rise of far right (which always follows nation state isolationism...)
I sometimes wonder if he thinks "careful what you wish for..."

Can you quote where I said single-handedly?
He has worked tirelessly and campaigned for a long time against the death penalty, internationally. His work (along with others’!) has been instrumental in the removal of the death penalty in several countries (I’m not sure why you put that in inverted commas, as if it wasn’t several countries). It’s easy to say ‘he argued in court’ like that’s nothing, but he led some of these appeals. Have you experience in bringing huge cases like this to Court? I’m guessing not, for you to diminish such an achievement. Or, for you not to recognise how diplomacy plays a huge part in changing the law in a foreign country.

Starmer is exactly who we need.

Reform can continue to gawp.

The world is very precarious right now, and we need the grown ups to be in charge. So I suspect that the current situation will make a lot of people think twice about Farage and Reform.

We can but hope.

Which ridiculous demand has Starmer ‘entertained’ though?
Thatcher famously didn’t stand up to Reagan. I’m old enough to have had this poster as a student

If a toddler is running around with a live grenade, you don’t escalate, just speak calmly and clear the room.

It’s what Starmer is doing.

I love that poster. One of my friends had that and I always coveted it.

I had forgotten about that!

I no longer have mine, sadly.

Sadly I think those that vote for Reform lack the ability to recognise the danger of Nigel being our spokesperson (shudder) or appreciate the value of Keir’s response to all this.

It's no surprise to see the usual suspects on here who are unable to give Starmer credit for anything. Some people are just so focused on trashing Labour at every opportunity that they just can't take their blinkers off.

I'm not a Labour voter but I am very pleased that we have Starmer in charge just now to deal with this. The thought of alternative PMs is terrifying.

‘Usual suspects’ the usual posters use this line tbf.

Why do you need credit for Starmer

How could you possibly know how to handle someone so psychopathic? There is written evidence of the US governments approval of the handing back of the Chagos Islands sent 6 months ago and then now, after it was done, probably with the approval or request of the US, its a 'stupid' decision according to Trump? He was the one who said it was a good idea! How can you possibly deal with someone like that?

I agree he’s done an excellent job of it. Agree he has impeccable diplomacy skills. I think he’s playing good cop to Europes bad cop vis a vis the deranged lunatic over the pond. It’d be nice to tell DT to stick it but that’s not in our interests.

Imagine how the history books are going to write up the DT presidency - attacking and insulting allies, supporting vile autocrat Putin, endorsing the invasion of democratic countries, and deposing autocratic leaders he has personal beef with while leaving in post others that are as bad or worse, demanding a Nobel peace prize and threatening retribution when he doesn’t get it, honouring himself by renaming the Kennedy centre…

I disagree. Children with additional needs aren’t going away. We can support them now
so they can be productive members of society (as much as they are able to). Or we don’t support them and they grow up unable to cope and become dependent on the state for their whole lives. I think economically it makes sense to provide support as early as possible to give them the best shot. I feel the same way about preventative medicine and early diagnosis vs paying to treat chronic conditions for the long term. Long term planning and funding it is good for us all. But it’ll never happen in this country, and especially not if we need to prioritise defence.

Trump needs approval from Congress to fund a military takeover right? (And surely to buy Greenland however many billions it would cost.) If that’s the case, can’t we treat this as a single raving lunatic, rather than something that is likely/ definitely going to happen?

Or is there a route Trump can take without Congress’ approval?

Trump can and will just ride roughshod over Congress if it suits him.

Doesn't Vance have the deciding vote in case of a tie?

Thank God, we can count on him to do the right thing.

We are supporting them, to the tune of billions of pounds a year, and yet the crisis just increases. It’s not at black and white as you make out. And there are other more pressing priorities now. It’s harsh, but true.