Across the Aisle: Oxford’s Political Parties Discuss UK-US Relations

A Note from the Editor

Welcome to the first edition of ‘Across the Aisle,’ the Oxford Blue’s new column bringing together the University’s political societies from across the spectrum to discuss this week’s most pressing matters!

This week’s news cycle has been dominated by one issue in particular: the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America. What this spells for the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and the US remains somewhat uncertain. According to the Office of National Statistics, the US remains the UK’s largest single export and import market, making up 21.7% and 13.2% of the UK’s export and import markets, respectively. The US is therefore considered a strong ally of the UK, with the two countries cooperating on matters of defence (via NATO), diplomacy, and trade.

However, Trump came to office promising tariffs that would put “America First” and ultimately encourage Americans to rely less on imports from overseas. Many have since referred to Trump as a political isolationist who aims to distance the US from the close diplomatic ties it has forged with allies such as the UK in favour of American strategic autonomy.

Concerns over the new presidency are not only restricted to economic isolationism but also the fracturing of military alliances. At a press conference, Trump refused to rule out the use of military force if he were to annex the Arctic territory of Greenland, which is currently administered by the US and the UK’s NATO ally Denmark.

This presents a crossroads for the UK. Trump has seemingly expressed disdain for the EU, which has a significant trade surplus with the US and has threatened the trade bloc with tariffs as a consequence. With the UK out of the EU, some have suggested this may be an opportunity for the UK to distance itself from Brussels and deepen the countries’ strategic relationship with one another. After all, Trump has recently stated that he believes Sir Keir Starmer is doing a “very good job,” despite their ideological differences. On the other hand, critics suggest that a Trump presidency will spell nothing but uncertainty for the transatlantic partnership, instead advocating for the UK to rekindle its relationship with its mainland European allies.

The future of the UK-US relationship remains up for debate for now, and naturally, perspectives on the matter differ across the political spectrum. Hence, Oxford’s Conservative Association (OUCA), Liberal Association (OSLA), and Labour Club (OLC) have contributed their perspectives on the matter to demonstrate the broad range of opinions held on either side of the aisle…

OLC: Labour must grit its teeth and co-exist with Trump, but it should not forget about those who will suffer because of him

Joseph Thomas

Oxford is, famously, a bit of a bubble. It is easy for us, as we get stuck into another busy term’s work, to let the affairs of a country 5,000 miles away pass us by. From such a distance, the absurdity of Trump’s inauguration speech could even be funny, if it wasn’t so real, for so many.

At the Labour Club, having fought as hard as we did last summer to put serious politicians into government, it’s tempting to see the United States as though it were one long social experiment. It can be hard, sometimes, to tell the difference. Our YouTube feeds are filled with clips of Republican Senators on Fox News saying things which are so outrageous, so alien to our (relatively) moderate politics, that they’re almost comical. This is the party of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who once blamed a wildfire on covert “space lasers”. This is the party of Trump, who declared, without evidence, that Haitian immigrants were “eating cats and dogs.”

I imagine though, that nothing Trump said on Sunday was particularly funny for a Panamanian – or an immigrant with young children. It isn’t a joke to a transgender person, fearing for their future in a country veering dangerously close to the far-right abyss, to the point of no return for common decency, for tolerance, and for arguments in good faith. These are not empty threats, not to the women of America, whose reproductive rights are being taken away from them, state by state. Or to the future generations, our generation, who will wonder why, at the same moment that wildfires burned through homes in Los Angeles, the President of the United States triumphantly declared he would “drill, baby, drill”.

So what does this mean for the United Kingdom? What next for the Labour Government? What can we do, as the values which America has always claimed to uphold across the world are dismantled within its own borders?

We cannot, however strongly we might feel, simply disengage from the United States. It goes almost without saying that we depend on the United States for a great deal. We, like the rest of Europe, have allowed ourselves to become reliant on the United States for our national security, for our military and commercial technology, and for our diplomacy. In all honesty, it is difficult to see how our government will be able to work, in good conscience, with the United States under Trump, how our leaders will grit their teeth and hold their tongues for the sake of the ‘special relationship’. But the truth, sadly, is that for the future of our country, they don’t have much of a choice.

Accepting that we will have to find a way of co-existing with Trump, does not mean that we should forget about the victims of his administration. We at the Labour Club will be thinking of our American family, friends, professors, and fellow students, who will be returning home to a country which may no longer welcome them or their loved ones.

OSLA: Trump’s inauguration bodes danger and opportunity for Britain

Will Lawson

“During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first,” declared the 45^th and now 47^th President, standing in the same Capitol rotunda that his supporters rampaged through four years ago. The President’s triumphant resurgence – winning the popular vote, all seven swing states, and a governing trifecta – represents a total usurpation of the former, liberal world order. Biden’s presidency will now be seen by history as an interlude in the Trump story, not the grand liberal revival many hoped for in 2020.

Free trade, respect for international institutions and international law, the very building blocks of our modern international system, are on the out. In their place, a volatile and transactional politics led by a superpower in it only for their own interests. Interests defined not in the broad, magnanimous terms of late 20^th century American foreign policy, but instead the grim, Bismarckian Realpolitik of power and territorial expansion. NATO now appears more like an American protection racket than a grand alliance, international institutions more a talking shop for petty grievances than serious organisations, and trade an arena for exploitation and extraction rather than mutual benefit. 

The dangers of this transformation to Britain are clear. The destabilisation of NATO risks further conflict in Europe and continued coercion by a revanchist Russia. Trade wars risk Britain facing tariffs on our exports to America, our largest single trading partner. The shared, global interests of liberal democratic nations risk being undermined by division and self-interested policymaking.

But danger and volatility also breed opportunity. Britain is well-placed to seek an exemption from any broad-based American tariff measures, an opportunity to create unique economic advantages for the UK. Trump’s Anglophilia is well-known – he is, for example, in love with the Monarchy, describing Prince William as “really, very handsome” – and a major charm offensive has great potential to win him over. If Britain doubles down on the principles on which my party was founded – free trade and economic liberalism – we can stand as a beacon of liberal prosperity in an increasingly mercantilist world.

Moreover, as America turns in on itself, Britain is presented with an opportunity to deepen ties with our other allies: the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. As Trump giddily launches threats at his northern neighbour, Britain can now make a point of deepening ties whilst enjoying a stronger negotiating position as Canada looks for stable, reliable partners. Europe – divided by a rising far-right, threatened by Russia and facing abandonment by America – is under intensifying pressure. Britain can enjoy a far stronger negotiating position with the continent than we did in 2016. 

Trump’s presidency brings danger and volatility to the international stage. The stakes have risen. Risk and opportunity abound. Britain has the chance to ride out this storm and come out all the stronger.

OUCA: Trump will give Starmer his greatest challenge yet

Chris Collins

Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the United States signified a remarkable return to office. Announcing his programme for government in the Capitol Rotunda, Trump was at the apex of his power. The political and business elites who had previously scorned, ostracised, and even prosecuted him were now forced to display fealty. Even billionaire liberals like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos awkwardly rose to their feet to applaud policies, on everything from immigration to tariffs, that they would once have decried as foolish or extreme. 

Trump’s stunning victory in November’s election–seeing off multiple threats to his life–has given him a stranglehold on Washington. He will face little resistance from the Senate and House of Representatives as the Republican party is now firmly under Trump’s control. We can safely assume that he will face even less resistance from a deeply conservative Supreme Court that has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to intervene in his favour. On the international stage, particularly on trade, Trump is likely to be a force to be reckoned with. Even on defence and security matters, Western leaders will find the United States an increasingly transactional and unpredictable ally.  It remains to be seen whether Marco Rubio, his relatively mainstream choice for Secretary of State, can moderate Trump’s most trigger-happy instincts. 

All this will cause significant alarm in Downing Street. Sir Keir Starmer is no fan of Donald Trump, and the feeling appears to be very much mutual. However, the ‘special relationship’ remains the cornerstone of British foreign policy. Staying on good terms with the Americans will be essential both for ensuring victory in Ukraine and, closer to home, securing the investment that is needed for Rachel Reeves’ so-called ‘growth agenda’. That is why it is so deeply unfortunate that the Prime Minister has chosen repeatedly to make decisions that seem almost designed to alienate the new American administration. Most prominently, the proposed ‘deal’ to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has already infuriated the White House. The deal involves paying Mauritius upwards of £90 million per year to allow us to use airbases which we currently own. Significant damage will be done to Anglo-American security interests if the critical Diego Garcia base becomes at risk of Chinese interference. The choice of the arch-Blairite Peter Mandelson, famously an unsuccessful candidate for the Chancellorship of this University, as British Ambassador to the United States will also prove to be a significant unforced error. It is difficult to imagine someone less able to relate to Donald Trump than Lord Mandelson, who has repeatedly excoriated him in the strongest possible terms. 

British Conservatives will greet Trump’s inauguration with mixed feelings. Many Britons, who thankfully tend to be more moderate than their American cousins, will understandably regret the return of someone who has cast aside constitutional and ethical norms for the sake of political self-interest. Others, however, will feel that his presidential re-election has reinvigorated Western conservatism. Trump has surfed the surging wave of populist anti-incumbency. In America, Britain, and across the world, millions of people feel that their governments have left them behind. By voting for Trump, they have demonstrated they are determined to be heard.