Republican Senator Ted Cruz, one of the leading figures on the American right, has criticised the UK for “seeking out conflict with the United States” and failing to support its security interests.
Speaking to The i Paper in an exclusive interview in his Capitol Hill office, Cruz took umbrage at reports Sir Keir Starmer initially refused US requests to use UK bases to support the initial waves of strikes against Iran.
“The British Prime Minister’s decision to disregard that long-standing friendship and alliance is disturbing and dangerous and does real damage to the special relationship,” he warned.
The Texas senator, who finished second to Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, and is considered a top contender for 2028, said that “America values our friendship and multi-century alliance with the United Kingdom”.
However, he added that “a Prime Minister whose political prospects are plummeting at home seeking out conflict with the United States is not in the interest of America or in the interest of the United Kingdom”.
Starmer has since reversed course, and has allowed the US to use British bases, after Iran launched drones and rockets in response at UK allies in the region. He accused Iran of pursuing a “scorched earth strategy”.
However, the Prime Minister said the UK would not participate in any “offensive action” and that the US would only use bases – including the one on Diego Garcia, in the Chagos Islands – for defensive measures, including targeting Iranian missile sites.
Donald Trump has said the UK “took far too long” to allow American forces to use its bases in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire to attack Iran.
‘I’m not sure why Prime Minister Starmer believes violating a treaty with America is a good idea,’ Ted Cruz told The i Paper (Photo: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg)The Middle East has been rocked by conflict after the US, along with Israel, launched air strikes on Saturday targeting Iran’sleadership and key military sites, with Tehran retaliating, targeting military and civilian infrastructure throughout the region.
In the interview, which took place before the strikes, Cruz also shared his alarm at the potential deal by Starmer to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, and threatened legislative consequences for the UK in Congress if a deal went through. He claimed the proposed deal was “deeply harmful to US national security, and not in the interest of the British people”.
Brandishing a printout of a formal diplomatic agreement between the UK and US from 1966, Cruz emphasised language that states that the territory “shall remain under United Kingdom sovereignty”, adding: “I’m not sure why Prime Minister Starmer believes violating a treaty with America is a good idea.
The proposed deal would involve the UK formally ceding sovereignty of the Indian Ocean territory, which includes the Chagos Islands and specifically Diego Garcia, whose air base played a vital role in both the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq War.
Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago and site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean leased from Britain in 1966 (Photo: Reuters/HO/US Navy)The UK would then lease back Diego Garcia for a 99-year period, making an annual payment of £101m. Although the US State Department had signalled support, Trump appeared to abruptly reverse course, writing in a Truth Social post last month: “DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!”
Cruz said that as a senator and chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee “there are a host of tools” that he has available to pressure the UK into reversing course: “I expect to utilise an escalating series of those tools.”
He hearkened back to Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands in the 1980s to make the case for the importance of maintaining British sovereignty over Diego Garcia.
“I hope the British government recognises that maintaining the ability to project force is important, not just for the United States, but for the United Kingdom,” he said. “The world is a dangerous place, and it is prudent national security policy to protect your ability to project force, both for current threats and for threats that may arise in the future.”
Trump and Keir Starmer speak during a press conference following their meeting at Chequers in September (Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)Cruz claimed that giving up sovereignty over Diego Garcia opened the door for China, which he described as “the greatest geopolitical threat to the United States for the next century… Mauritius has close relationships with China. Ceding sovereignty to Mauritius gives China an excuse to attempt to intrude”.
He compared the situation to the successful pressure campaign to convince the UK to ban Huawei, the Chinese tech company that is deeply intertwined with the Chinese state: “Thankfully, the British government reversed course. I hope the same thing happens here.”
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It is unclear what will happen next. Last week, the UK Government said there was “no pause” in the deal, after Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer had told MPs that the UK was pausing the process of passing legislation to transfer control of the territory.
In the meantime, Cruz, Trump’s one-time political adversary, is happy to stay in lockstep with the President’s call to “not give away Diego Garcia”.
“President Trump is exactly right, and I hope the British government listens to him,” he said.
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