JD Vance told the Sunday Times that the UK is an “amazing” country, but that it has been “failed by its leadership for a long time.”
The comments came after the current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, declared his resignation after a series of crises relating to both the UK’s domestic and foreign policies. Vance stated that frequent changes in the country’s leadership have a negative impact on the people and the country as a whole.
“What I see is six prime ministers in the last few years. What that tells me is that something is very broken in British politics and that people are really crying out for significant structural change,” he said.
Regarding Starmer’s successor, Andy Burnham, Vance said that although they do not know each other personally, the US would work with the new Prime Minister equally successfully as always, adding that “Britain is one of our closest and most important allies.”
“I hope that Andy Burnham — and if not Andy Burnham, then someone else — is able to deliver it. Because Britain is such a beautiful country, such an amazing place,” he said of Burnham, who secured a convincing victory in the by-election in the Makerfield constituency in June.
Therefore, if successful, Burnham will become the UK’s seventh prime minister in a decade. Vance added that he is fully confident that whoever becomes the next prime minister will be able to understand “how to get Britain back on track.” The call for nominations is due to open on 9 July, but it is believed that Burnham’s victory is a foregone conclusion.
“I have a special affection for Britain,” said Vance, adding: “If I’m being honest, I think, as much as I care about it for reasons of mutual interest – and American alliances – I also just care about it because Britain feels more culturally familiar to me than any country on Earth, apart from my own.”
Last month, Vance lashed out at the UK in response to the murder of student Henry Nowak in Southampton, blaming the two-tier police system in the UK and Europe as a whole. This is not the first time that US officials have criticised the UK and Europe as a whole over the issue of migration. Earlier, US President Donald Trump claimed that Europe is increasingly becoming a “third world country” because of its immigration policies.
