UK may turn out to be Trump’s poodle if it fails to put money into defence, Badenoch warns | EUROtoday

Kemi Badenoch has warned in opposition to Britain changing into a “poodle” to Donald Trump, whereas promising to rebuild the nation’s defences if she turned prime minister amid mounting world instability.

The Tory chief additionally took goal at Reform UK, saying the get together is “afraid to speak seriously about hostile states”.

Her feedback come amid rising world instability, with Donald Trump threatening to hit the UK and Europe with recent tariffs over their opposition to his threats to annex Greenland.

Meanwhile, Ms Badenoch’s get together has suffered a troublesome week after Robert Jenrick dramatically defected to Reform.

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Speaking to The TelegraphMs Badenoch warned Britain should put money into its defences with the intention to keep away from being seen as weak on the worldwide stage.

“Getting Britain working again means fixing our economy and fixing our country, and that means putting our national interest first and rebuilding our defences.

“Otherwise we will end up being poodles as the US annexes Greenland and we’re slapped with tariffs because we have not shown any strength”, she mentioned.

It comes after Mr Trump used a publish on Truth Social to announce that 10 per cent tariffs would come into impact on 1 February on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland.

Those tariffs would improve to 25 per cent on 1 June and would proceed till a deal is reached for the US to buy Greenland, Mr Trump mentioned within the long-winded publish, warning that China and Russia each wish to management Greenland, which he claimed solely the US can forestall.

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Ms Badenoch additionally hit out at Mr Jenrick’s “narrow, inward-looking and performative” defection speech, noting that it failed to say overseas affairs.

Earlier this week, Mr Jenrick used his speech to launch a shocking assault on his former get together, saying it had “betrayed its voters and members” and was “in denial – or being dishonest” about its report.

But the Tory chief famous that the speech contained “nothing about Russia’s war in Europe, nothing about China’s growing economic and security penetration and nothing about Iran, North Korea, cyber warfare, AI, or the erosion of the rules-based order”.

“Reform presents itself as insurgent and anti-establishment, yet it displays no serious interest in national security at all.

“It’s not just the fact that their leader in Wales was taking bribes from Russia, but that they are afraid to speak seriously about hostile states, alliances, defence, intelligence, or economic security, and when they aren’t afraid they don’t know what to say”, she added.

Taking goal at Sir Keir Starmer’s method to overseas coverage, Ms Badenoch mentioned his “failure on national security is different” to that of Reform, “but just as dangerous”.

She mentioned that the PM “speaks in abstractions while allowing Chinese state influence in universities and infrastructure, Chinese intimidation and espionage on British soil and strategic ambiguity on foreign policy, that wills the ends of a rules-based framework but not the means, believing diplomacy alone will win”.