The relationship between Keir Starmer and Donald Trump has suffered one other blow after the US president posted a tv skit mocking the prime minister.
In the sketch, from the brand new Saturday Night Live UK programme, Sir Keir panics as he tries to dodge a telephone name from Trump and asks his deputy: “Oh golly – what if Donald shouts at me? What do I say, Lammy?”
Mr Trump didn’t embrace any remark when he shared the video on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
The two males have lengthy had a troublesome relationship, which the warfare in Iran has exacerbated. Mr Trump lately accused the UK and different Nato allies of being “cowards” and criticising them for inaction to assist reopen the strait.
The sketch was aired on Sky One on Saturday within the the primary episode of the British model of the US late-night comedy present.
It opened with a view of 10 Downing Street earlier than chopping to forged member George Fouracres because the prime minister, accompanied by deputy prime minister David Lammy, performed by Hammed Animashaun.
Mr Lammy elicited laughter from the dwell studio viewers as he mentioned: “Just be yourself, Prime Minister. Yourself is who everyone likes.”
The actor taking part in Sir Keir then picks up the telephone and hears a voice mimicking Mr Trump who says “hello”. In response he hangs up and says: “Oh sod that scary, scary, wonderful President. Why is he so bloody difficult to talk to?”
“Sir, just be honest and tell him we can’t send any more ships to the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr Lammy says, referencing the truth that Iran has successfully blocked the oil transport channel as a result of ongoing battle with the US and Israel.
The prime minister says: “I just hate conflict so much.”
Mr Lammy jokes: “Are you referring to the war, or just this phone call?”
He responds: “Isn’t there a way I can not do both? I just want to keep him happy, Lammy. You don’t understand him like I do – I can change him.”
During a back-and-forth between the 2, in a set mocked as much as appear to be Sir Keir’s Downing Street workplace, Starmer additionally quips: “How did Liz Truss make this job so easy?”
Days after the UK gave the US permission to make use of British army bases to hit Iranian missile websites concentrating on the strait, the skit ends with Sir Keir saying: “I’ll do anything, except take a stand.”
Last yr, Sir Keir hailed his “good relationship” with Trump simply hours earlier than Mr Trump’s particular envoy slammed the PM’s Ukraine peace plan as “a posture and a pose”.
They have additionally brazenly clashed over the problem of free speech within the UK. At the identical time Sir Keir has tried to place himself near the US in a bid to minimize the impression of issues like Trump’s international tariffs on the UK.