![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/matt-vickers.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe UK-US special relationship has suffered severe damage under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, according to Matt Vickers.<\/p>\n
Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Illegal Immigration Minister delivered a scathing assessment of the current state of transatlantic ties.<\/p>\n
“I think the special relationship between the US and the UK is hugely damaged. I can’t imagine a time when it’s been as bad as it is, and actually it’s a relationship that has endured generation after generation,” he said.<\/p>\n
The Conservative frontbencher emphasised this historic partnership has delivered significant advantages in both defence and trade over many years.<\/p>\n
He insisted repairing the relationship must be a priority, whilst declaring that the Prime Minister is “clearly not the man to do that.”<\/p>\n
Mr Vickers pointed to Donald Trump’s message urging Britain to exploit its own oil and gas reserves, contrasting this with Labour’s decision to cease issuing new North Sea drilling licences.<\/p>\n
The shadow minister warned approximately 200,000 workers currently employed in extracting oil and gas from the North Sea now face an uncertain future.<\/p>\n
“Those people are now having to look at alternative ways to work,” he stated, adding this directly affects communities in his constituency.<\/p>\n
Matt Vickers has declared Keir Starmer is ‘not the man’ to fix the UK’s special relationship with the US<\/p>\n
| <\/p>\n
GB NEWS \/ GETTY<\/p>\n
He argued importing energy from overseas is actually more damaging to the environment due to transportation emissions and associated costs.<\/p>\n
Mr Vickers also raised concerns about Britain’s growing dependence on imports from nations such as Iran, which he described as “facing all sorts of challenges”.<\/p>\n
The consequences of these policy decisions are already being felt across the country, according to Mr Vickers, who warned reduced supply is pushing prices upward.<\/p>\n
“The end result is the price is spiralling. Our energy security, our national security is put at risk, people are losing their jobs, it’s an absolute disaster,” he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/donald-trump.webp.webp\")
Donald Trump is considering pulling out of Nato as he blasted the UK for ‘not even having a navy’<\/p>\n
| GETTY<\/p>\n
The shadow minister also criticised reports that the Government may be contemplating a rise in fuel duty.<\/p>\n
He described this as coming “at the worst possible time for families and businesses across this country”.<\/p>\n
Mr Vickers argued the combination of halted domestic production, increased import reliance, and potential tax rises on fuel represents a perfect storm threatening both household budgets and the nation’s strategic interests.<\/p>\n
He also launched a fierce attack on the Prime Minister’s handling of military cooperation with Washington.<\/p>\n
![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/matt-vickers.png\")
Matt Vickers told GB News that repairing the relationship must be a priority<\/p>\n
| <\/p>\n
GB NEWS<\/p>\n
“When the US began this conflict, when this issue arose, Keir Starmer dithered, he delayed, he dilly-dallied. He didn’t allow them the access to our bases that they needed,” he said.<\/p>\n
The shadow minister accused the Government of failing to respond adequately when missiles were fired at British bases on sovereign territory in allied nations.<\/p>\n
He noted under the previous Conservative administration, Royal Navy warships were stationed in the region and actively engaged in operations.<\/p>\n
Mr Vickers warned this sluggish response has endangered British personnel and facilities in Cyprus whilst damaging relationships with host nations.<\/p>\n
He concluded by describing the situation as an “absolute disaster in diplomacy”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK-US special relationship has suffered severe damage under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, according to Matt Vickers. Speaking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1632,13,18,14,1634,20,1633],"class_list":{"0":"post-3293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"tag-breakfast-with-stephen-and-ellie","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics","12":"tag-shows","13":"tag-uk-politics","14":"tag-video-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}