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The shadow defence secretary and other MPs have reacted with fury after JD Vance appeared to describe a proposed Anglo-French peace deployment to Ukraine as “20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years”.
It comes after Downing Street said Keir Starmer had spoken to Donald Trump on Monday night, part of continued UK efforts to try to patch up a faltering peace plan for Ukraine.
During an interview with Fox News, Vance, the increasingly outspoken US vice-president, was scathing about the idea of other countries being able to give meaningful security guarantees after any peace deal.
A proposed minerals agreement would give the US more economic interests in Ukraine and thus provide “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 said.
While UK politicians are largely united in agreeing that a US military presence in some form will be necessary in any peace deal, there was immediate outrage about Vance’s apparent dismissal of a UK military that fought alongside American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
James Cartlidge, the Conservative shadow defence secretary, said: “Britain and France came to their [the US’s] aid, deploying thousands of personnel to Afghanistan, including my own brother and numerous parliamentary colleagues, past and present. It’s deeply disrespectful to ignore such service and sacrifice.”
On Tuesday, Vance said it was “absurdly dishonest” to argue that he had been referring to the UK or France, despite the countries being at the forefront of efforts to provide a non-US peacekeeping force.
“I don’t even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond,” he tweeted. “But let’s be direct: there are many countries who are volunteering (privately or publicly) support who have neither the battlefield experience nor the military equipment to do anything meaningful.”
Asked about Vance’s initial comments, Starmer’s official spokesperson did not directly address them but reiterated the fact that UK forces had fought recently alongside their American counterparts.
“The prime minister, and I think this whole country, is full of admiration for all British troops who have served, for instance, in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom have lost their lives in the process, and have fought alongside allies, including the United States,” he said.
“And it’s very clear that their courage and bravery has helped to ensure global security, defend our values, defend our national interests. Our focus, once again, is on how we protect our national interests and global security by progressing the discussions to secure a lasting peace for Ukraine.”
The spokesperson said the prime minister had spoken to Trump twice over the weekend and had another talk with the US president on Monday night.
Johnny Mercer, the Conservative former armed forces minister, who is no longer an MP, called Vance a “clown”.
Mercer, who served in Afghanistan as an army officer, said: “I read JD Vance’s book, making the mistake of finding him quite interesting. By his own admission he spent his time in the Marines ‘writing articles and taking pictures’. Perhaps if he had got his hands dirty serving his country like so many of his fellow American and British veterans, chasing his own country’s crazy foreign policy ideas, he might not be so quick to dismiss their sacrifice.”
Ben Obese-Jecty, a Conservative MP who, as an army officer, served in Afghanistan and Iraq, noted that in his memoir, Vance said he was “lucky to escape any real fighting” when in the Marines.
He went on: “I was part of British forces fighting in highly kinetic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the latter in response to article 5 following 9/11. The disrespect shown by the new US vice-president to the sacrifices of our service personnel is unacceptable.”
The Liberal Democrats said Peter Mandelson, the UK ambassador to Washington, should seek an apology from Vance. The party’s defence spokesperson, Helen Maguire, who as a Royal Military Police officer served in Iraq, said: “I saw first-hand how American and British soldiers fought bravely together shoulder to shoulder. Six of my own regiment, the Royal Military Police, didn’t return home from Iraq. This is a sinister attempt to deny that reality.”
