Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Relations with the US

Tuesday 26 November 2024 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The United States is an indispensable ally and the UK is committed to strengthening the UK-US relationship.
  • The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary met with President-elect Trump in September for dinner to get to know each other better.
  • The issue of defence spending has been raised by US Presidents since Eisenhower, and when Trump came to power, only four European countries were spending above 2%.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jerome Mayhew Con Broadland and Fakenham
Foreign Affairs

Question

What steps he plans to take to help strengthen relations with the US.

Answer from David Lammy

The United States is an indispensable ally and I am committed to the depth and breadth of the UK-US relationship. The Prime Minister and I met President-elect Trump in September for dinner, which was a good opportunity to get to know each other. We of course continue to work with the current Administration. I was with Tony Blinken just yesterday.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Steps planned to strengthen UK-US relationship not specified

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Q2 Jerome Mayhew Con Broadland and Fakenham
Defence Foreign Affairs

Question

Defence spending is a key aspect of our relationship with the United States. Will the Foreign Secretary be able to tell our American allies the date on which we will increase defence spending to 2.5%? If he cannot, what influence will we have on European allies to increase their defence spending?

Answer from David Lammy

The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the issue of defence spending. It has been raised by US Presidents since Eisenhower. He is right that when Donald Trump came to power there were just four European countries spending above 2%. When Labour left government it was at 2.5%. We are sad that it dropped and we are determined to get it back to 2.5% of GDP.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Date for increasing UK defence spending not specified

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