Keir Starmer Pays Tribute To "Bravery And Sacrifice” Of British Troops After JD Vance Controversy
2 min read
Keir Starmer paid tribute to the "bravery and sacrifice" of British troops at Prime Minister's Questions after comments made by the vice president of the United States triggered outrage in Britain.
Kicking off PMQs in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said 6 March marks "13 years since six British soldiers were on patrol in Afghanistan when their vehicle was struck by an explosive, tragically killing them all".
The six soldiers, who were between the ages of 19 and 33, were killed when an improvised explosive device hit their vehicle in Helmand Province on March 6 2012.
The soldiers killed were Sergeant Nigel Coupe, 33, Corporal Jake Hartley, 20, Private Anthony Frampton, 20, Private Christopher Kershaw, 19, Private Daniel Wade, 20, and Private Daniel Wilford, 21.
The Prime Minister's official spokesperson said on Tuesday that Starmer was "full of admiration for all British troops" who have served their country after the vice president of the United States JD Vance faced a backlash across the UK political spectrum for making comments widely perceived to be derogatory about Britain's military capabilities.
In an interview with Fox News, Vance said an economic deal between the US and Ukraine would be a "way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years".
Vance later tweeted that criticism of his remarks was "absurdly dishonest" and insisted he was not referring to British or French troops.
However, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Vance was “wrong, wrong, wrong”.
Starmer today told MPs: "These men fought and died for their country, our country. And across the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq 642 individuals died fighting for Britain alongside our allies. Many more were wounded. We will never forget their bravery and sacrifice".
In a speech to Congress on Tuesday night, US president Donald Trump revealed he had received a letter from the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky saying he was ready to begin peace talks with Russia.
Trump had previously accused Zelensky of not being ready for peace, as a meeting between the two in Washington DC ended bitterly, with the Ukrainian leader being asked to leave the White House to the dismay of European allies.
The clash came less than 24 hours after Starmer and Trump met in Washington DC, with the president accepting an invite for an "unprecedented" second state visit.
Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch said in the Commons today that Zelensky was "keeping a cool head". Starmer told the House that he had spoken to Zelensky yesterday afternoon.
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