Keir Starmer urged to make use of Nigel Farage to spice up ties with Donald Trump and Elon Musk | Politics | News | EUROtoday

A Labour grandee has urged Sir Keir Starmer to make use of Nigel Farage to spice up ties with Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Lord Mandelson mentioned the Reform chief could possibly be a “bridgehead” to the US president-elect and the billionaire businessman.

The Prime Minister has been embroiled in an ongoing disagreement with Mr Musk, whereas he was additionally left scrambling to construct bridges with Mr Trump after his election win following previous criticism by Labour politicians.

Lord Mandelson, who’s broadly tipped to be the UK’s subsequent ambassador to Washington, was talking on the Times podcast How To Win An Election.

The Labour peer described it as “unwise” for the UK to disregard Mr Musk, including: “If I were the Government here, I’d be asking the embassy in Washington DC to find out who his other British friends are. Who are they all? And they’ve got to be used, I think, as a bridge to Musk. And so that’s what I would do.

“You know, swallow your delight, discover out who his pals are and try to get into these networks. You can’t simply proceed this feud indefinitely. You’ve bought to recover from it.

“You’ve got to, he’s got to be reintroduced to the British Government.

“And one great way of doing that is perhaps via a few of his British pals, even when they don’t seem to be, as I say, you understand, vivid purple supporters of the Labour Government.”

Asked if this could include Mr Farage, the Labour peer said: “Yes, I would come with Nigel Farage. I imply, you’ll be able to’t ignore him. I imply, he is an elected Member of Parliament.

“He’s a public figure. He’s a bridgehead, both to President Trump and to Elon Musk and others. You’ve got to be pragmatic, practical about this.”

Asked on the G20 summit in Brazil whether or not he would comply with recommendation from Lord Mandelson to stop the feuding, the Prime Minister mentioned: “I make no comment about appointments.

“In relation to relations with the US, clearly it is a crucial relationship for us.

“Historically the US-UK relationship has been a special relationship for a reason, forged in difficult circumstances and as important today as it has ever been.

“In forging that relationship I’ve clearly hung out with President-elect Trump again in September after I was in New York and we had dinner collectively, after which spoken to him on the telephone.

“I think that is right in terms of building a relationship as we go forward.”