‘Insulting and appalling’: Starmer demands Trump apologise for false claims about UK troops in Afghanistan

Sir Keir Starmer has slammed Donald Trump’s false claims that Nato troops stayed away from the front line in the conflict in Afghanistan as “insulting and frankly appalling” and demanded an apology.

The prime minister joined veterans and politicians from across the political spectrum in his condemnation of Mr Trump, who has enraged Nato allies by claiming he is not sure the alliance would “be there if we ever needed them”.

And he was joined by Prince Harry, who said the “sacrifices” of British soldiers who served and died in Afghanistan “deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect”.

Sir Keir said: “I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling, and I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured”.

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The White House responded to the criticism on Friday night, without issuing an apology.

“President Trump is absolutely right — the United States of America has done more for NATO than any other country in the alliance has done combined,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told The Independent in a statement.

It came after the prime minister paid tribute to the 457 British personnel who died in the conflict, saying he would never forget “their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country”.

In response to comments from Diane Dernie, the mother of severely injured veteran Ben Parkinson, Sir Keir said: “I’ve made my position clear, and what I say to Diane is, if I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologise and I’d apologise to her.”

Earlier, No 10 said the US president “was wrong to diminish the role of Nato troops, including British forces, in Afghanistan” and said their service and sacrifice “will never be forgotten”.

Sir Tony Blair, who was the UK prime minister who first sent British troops to support America in Afghanistan, also intervened.

Avoiding direct criticism of the US president, a spokesperson for Sir Tony said: “Tony Blair knows – and will always remember with deep gratitude – the enormous contribution and sacrifice British troops made in Afghanistan on the front line of the fight against terrorism, following the 9/11 attacks on the US.”

Earlier, the former head of the Royal Navy led those criticising Mr Trump’s claim, calling the comments “disgraceful”. Former first sea lord, Admiral Lord West, who coordinated the naval activity in Afghanistan, told The Independent: “It is wrong and a disgraceful thing for anyone to say, let alone the head of state of an allied nation.”

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Defence secretary John Healey said British troops killed in Afghanistan were “heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation”, while defence minister Al Carns, who himself served five tours in Afghanistan, invited anyone who believes Trump’s claim to meet him and the bereaved families of the more than 400 British personnel who died in the conflict.

More than 1,100 non-US coalition fighters died in the conflict that began in 2001, according to veteran charity Help for Heroes, the overwhelming majority of them being from Nato countries, while more than 2,400 members of the US armed forces were killed.

But Mr Trump, who avoided the draft for the Vietnam war five times during the 1960s and 1970s due to a diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels, told Fox News: “They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan … and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”

Mr Carns said: “I’d suggest whoever believes these comments, come have a whisky with me, my colleagues, their families, and importantly, the families of those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for both of our nations.”

He also uploaded a video of himself during his time in uniform, calling it a “small snapshot of what it’s like to be on the front line in Afghanistan”.

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A former defence secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, told The Independent: “President Trump is either willing to make accusations without bothering to check the facts, or he is just lying and knows he is lying. Either way, he is destroying his reputation and that of the United States.”

“It just doesn’t really add up what he said, because the fact of the matter is the only time that Article 5 has been invoked was to go to the aid of the United States after 9/11,” care minister Stephen Kinnock told Sky News.

He added: “Many, many British soldiers and many soldiers from other European Nato allies gave their lives in support of American missions, American-led missions in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.”

The United States remains the only country to have invoked the collective security provisions of Nato’s Article 5, which considers an attack on one Nato nation as an attack on all, with the alliance providing support to the US after the terrorist attacks of September 11.

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Britain suffered the second-highest number of military deaths in the Afghanistan conflict, behind the US, which saw 2,461 deaths. In total, America’s allies suffered 1,160 deaths in the conflict, around a third of the total coalition deaths.

The mother of a young British rifleman killed in Afghanistan said the president had “no compassion whatsoever for anyone who doesn’t serve him”. Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died aged 18, said the remarks were “extremely upsetting”.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also condemned Mr Trump’s claims as “flat-out nonsense”.

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Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Trump avoided military service five times. How dare he question their sacrifice?”

Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who served in Afghanistan as a captain in the Royal Yorkshire Regiment, said it was “sad to see our nation’s sacrifice, and that of our Nato partners, held so cheaply by the president of the United States”.

Labour MP Calvin Bailey, a former RAF officer who served alongside US special operations units in Afghanistan and was awarded the Air Medal by the then US president Barack Obama in 2013, said: “Political leaders are just like a hand in a bucket of water. They pass. I know that Trump is one man, but behind him are 300 million, most of whom disagree [with him]. I served with Americans; they are my friends. They told me to rise above those comments.”