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Can a Labour prime minister get on well with a Republican US president? Or a Conservative PM with a Democrat in the White House?

The short answer is yes, absolutely.

There are plenty of examples of a good relationship and close bond between a Labour prime minister and Republican president. And vice versa.

Indeed, some prime ministers and presidents from seemingly opposing political parties have bonded for the simplest or most trivial reasons. Cigars, toothpaste and burgers, for example.

And it’s not always rosy between prime ministers and presidents of the two sister parties. There have been some big fallings out: over Suez, Vietnam and the Caribbean island of Grenada.

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Starmer says the ‘special relationship’ is ‘as important today as it has ever been’

But never has a British Labour prime minister faced such special challenges in maintaining the “special relationship” with a Republican president as Sir Keir Starmer does right now.

It’s not just policy differences – on issues such as trade tariffs, Ukraine, Israel, defence spending, Brexit and climate change – that divide Downing Street and the White House right now.

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Never before has an incoming president faced such a tirade of brutal insults from senior members of a UK government like those hurled at him by leading members of Sir Keir’s cabinet.

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He’s a “racist KKK and neo-Nazi sympathiser”, (David Lammy, 2017), an “odious, sad little man”, (Wes Streeting, 2017) and “a racist misogynistic, self-confessed groper”, (Ed Miliband, 2018). And that’s just a sample.

That’s not all. Last month, the Republican Party filed a legal complaint after almost 100 Labour Party aides flew to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris, alleging “blatant foreign interference” in the presidential election.

Critics, led by the new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, have accused Sir Keir and his party of playing student politics by picking a fight with the most powerful man in the world. And someone who’s notoriously vindictive.

It was all very different 80 years ago (critics would also say that political leaders were real statesmen back then).

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Badenoch calls out Lammy at PMQs

The phrase “special relationship”, describing the alliance between the UK and US, was first used by Winston Churchill in a speech in Missouri in 1946, in which he also coined the phrase “the Iron Curtain”.

That speech was introduced by president Harry Truman, a Democrat, with whom Churchill had attended the Potsdam Conference in 1945 to negotiate the terms of the end of the Second World War.

They were close friends and would write handwritten letters to each other and addressed one another as Harry and Winston. Truman was also the only US president to visit Churchill at Chartwell, his family home.

Churchill also had a close relationship with another Democrat president, Franklin D Roosevelt. Their close bond during the Second World War was described as a friendship that saved the world.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill, left, of Great Britain and President Franklin Roosevelt faced reporters at the White House in Washington on Dec. 23, 1941 at a press conference in which the heads of two great world powers linked in a common war expresses confidence in victory. Churchill, with his customary black cigar, emphasizes his reply to a question with a gesture. (AP Photo)
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Prime minister Winston Churchill and president Franklin Roosevelt at the White House in Washington on 23 December, 1941. Pic: AP

One reason they got on famously was that they were both renowned cigar smokers. Like Churchill, Roosevelt’s cigar smoking was a widely reported part of his public persona after he became president.

But after Churchill’s bromances with Democrat presidents, his Conservative successor Anthony Eden fell out badly with the Republican president Dwight Eisenhower over the Suez Crisis in the mid-1950s.

And it was a Conservative prime minister and a Democrat president with seemingly nothing in common, the stuffy and diffident Harold Macmillan and the charismatic John F Kennedy, that repaired the damage.

“Between them they had rescued the special relationship after the rupture of the Suez Crisis, and done so at a time of uniquely high tensions around the world,” wrote British author Christopher Sandford in Harold And Jack, The Remarkable Friendship Of Prime Minister Macmillan And President Kennedy.

Harold Macmillan John F. Kennedy at Andrews Air Force Base.
Pic AP
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Harold Macmillan and John F Kennedy at Andrews Air Force Base. Pic: AP

It was the early 1960s and these were dangerous times, rather like now, of course. Back then it was the Berlin Wall, the Cuban missile crisis and threat of nuclear weapons.

“Through it all, the two leaders had exchanged not only formal messages but also a steady flow of handwritten notes, Christmas and birthday cards, congratulations, and, on occasion, condolences,” Sandford wrote.

But it was a relationship abruptly cut short in 1963, by “supermac’s” demise caused by the John Profumo sex scandal and then JFK’s assassination in Dallas just a month later.

“Like many of those who came into the Kennedys’ orbit,” the Washington Post wrote, “Macmillan was enchanted by Jacqueline Kennedy, and she seems to have happily entered into a father-daughter relationship with him that lasted long after her husband’s assassination.”

John F. Kennedy with John Diefenbaker and  Harold MacMillan, during luncheon at Balhi Hai, Bermuda in 1962.
Pic: AP
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John F Kennedy with Harold MacMillan, during lunch in Bermuda in 1962. Pic: AP

After Kennedy, the so-called “special relationship” cooled once again during the tenure of Labour’s Harold Wilson and Democrat Lyndon Johnson, when Wilson rejected pressure from Johnson to send British troops to Vietnam.

And even though Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were ideological soulmates, Thatcher was furious when she wasn’t consulted before the Americans invaded Grenada in 1983 to topple a Marxist regime.

Even worse, according to Thatcher allies, a year earlier Reagan had stayed neutral during the Falklands war. Reagan said he couldn’t understand why two US allies were arguing over “that little ice-cold bunch of land down there”.

Margaret Thatcher admiring Ronald Reagan's bear design silver cufflinks when the former California Governor visited her office.  She is holding a silver dollar medallion presented to her by Mr Reagan.
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Margaret Thatcher was frustrated with Ronald Reagan over his position on the Falklands. Pic: PA

Long before the accusations of Starmer’s Labour meddling in the Trump-Harris election, the Tories were accused of dirty tricks in the Bill Clinton-George HW Bush presidential election of 1992.

During the campaign the Home Office checked immigration nationality records to see whether Clinton applied for British citizenship while a student at Oxford University to escape the Vietnam draft. It wasn’t true.

US President Bill Clinton, left, toasts with British Prime Minister John Major during a formal dinner at the Prime Minister's official residence at No. 10 Downing Street, November 29
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US president Bill Clinton held a toast with John Major during a dinner at Downing Street. Pic: PA

Then prime minister John Major issued a grovelling public apology and Clinton was forgiving. In 1994 the “special relationship” received a huge boost when the president took Major to the home in Pittsburgh where his grandfather and father lived and worked.

Then it was back to Washington where Major became the first foreign leader to stay overnight in the Clinton White House. But as well as the flattery, the pair worked closely in the early stages of the Northern Ireland peace process.

Clinton’s political soulmate, of course, was Tony Blair. They were as close as Reagan and Thatcher. But it was with the Republican George W Bush that Labour’s Blair embarked on the defining mission of his premiership, the Iraq war.

Tony and Cherie Blair accompany U.S. President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton as they depart the White House February 6 enroute the presidential retreat at Camp David. The Blairs will spend Friday night and Saturday night with the Clintons at Camp David before leaving Washington early Sunday morning...CLINTON BLAIR
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The Blairs spent two nights with the Clintons at Camp David. Pic: AP

George “Dubya” Bush had defeated Clinton’s vice president Al Gore in the bitterly contested presidential election of 2000 and in early 2001 he entertained Blair at Camp David. It was to prove to be a historic encounter.

“He’s a pretty charming guy,” the president gushed at their news conference. “He put the charm offensive on me.” How many times have we heard that said about Tony Blair?

Then it got deeply personal. They were asked if they’d found something in their talks that they had in common. “Well, we both use Colgate toothpaste,” the president replied.

Quick as a flash, an embarrassed Mr Blair intervened: “They’re going to wonder how you know that, George.”

President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair walk together as they tour the grounds of Camp David February 23, 2001. The meeting is Bush's first with a European leader as he and Blair seek to reaffirm the special relationship which exists between the U.S. and Britain.
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Tony Blair and George W Bush first met in 2001. Pic: Reuters

The war was the turning point of Blair’s decade in Number 10. He was branded a liar over claims about Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction”, he was vilified by the Labour left and it was the beginning of the end for him.

Some years later, the Tory prime minister sometimes called the “heir to Blair”, David Cameron, bonded over burgers with the Democrat president Barack Obama, serving a BBQ lunch to military families in the Downing Street garden.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (L) and U.S. President Barack Obama serve food to a guest at a barbecue in the garden of 10 Downing Street, in central London May 25, 2011. U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday will stress a united effort to pressure Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to step down, while glossing over differences between their two governments. REUTERS/Matt Dunham/Pool (BRITAIN - Tags: POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY)
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David Cameron and Barack Obama served burgers to guests in the Downing Street garden in 2011. Pic: Reuters

They seemed unlikely allies: Obama the first African-American president and Cameron the 19th old Etonian prime minister. It was claimed they had a “transatlantic bromance” in office.

The two leaders were often pictured together playing ping-pong or golf, eating burgers or watching a basketball game. “Yes, he sometimes calls me bro,” Cameron once said of president Obama.

Cameron even persuaded Obama to help the Remain campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum, when he claimed the UK would be “at the back of the queue” on trade deals with the US if it left the EU.

U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron smile after Obama missed a putt during a round of golf at The Grove golf course in Watford, England April 23, 2016.REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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David Cameron and Obama also enjoyed a round of golf. Pic: Reuters

Which brings us, neatly, to Sir Keir and president-elect Trump and the prime minister’s hopes of building a special relationship.

On the plus side, the president likes the UK – his mother was Scottish and he owns two golf courses in Scotland. And we’re told by Sir Keir that the dinner at Trump Tower in September went well. The mouthy Mr Lammy admitted he was even offered a second portion of chicken. “He was very gracious,” he claimed.

On the other hand, neither the prime minister nor the president smoke cigars, like Churchill and Roosevelt did. We’re not sure which toothpaste they use, unlike Bush and Blair, either.

Donald Trump works behind the counter during a visit to McDonald's in Feasterville-Trevose.
Pic Reuters
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Donald Trump served fries to customers at a fast food chain during the election campaign. Pic: Reuters

And while the president obviously likes burgers – he famously flipped them in a McDonald’s during the election campaign – and steak, well done, with ketchup, Sir Keir is vegetarian, though he does eat fish.

But if even a stuffy old toff like Harold Macmillan can get on well with the flamboyant JFK and glamorous Jackie Onassis, there’s hope for Sir Keir and that much-vaunted “special relationship”.

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Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage are polar opposites in politics, but have one thing in common

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Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage are polar opposites in politics, but have one thing in common

Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage might be polar opposites when it comes to politics – but they do have one thing in common.

The pair are both cutting through in a changing media landscape when attention is scarce and trust in mainstream politics is scarcer still.

For Farage, the Reform UK leader, momentum has been building since he won a seat at the general election last year and he continues to top the polls.

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Badenoch doesn’t want to talk about Farage

But in the six weeks since Polanski became leader of the Greens, membership has doubled, they’ve polled higher than ever before while three Labour councillors have defected. Has the insurgent firebrand finally met his match?

“I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but I despise Nigel Farage’s politics and disagree with him on almost everything,” Polanski tells Sky News.

“But I think his storytelling has undoubtedly cut through and so yes there has been a huge part of us saying ‘If Farage can do that with a politics of hate and division, then it’s time for the Green Party to do that with a politics of hope and community’ and that’s absolutely what I intend to keep doing.”

Polanski was speaking after a news conference to announce the defections of the councillors in Swindon – a bellwether area that is currently led by a Labour council and has two Labour MPs, but was previously controlled by the Tories.

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It is the sort of story the party would previously have announced in a press release, but the self-described “eco populist” is determined to do things differently to grab attention.

He has done media interviews daily over the past few weeks, launched his own podcast and turbocharged the Greens social media content – producing slick viral videos such as his visit to Handsworth (the Birmingham neighbourhood where Robert Jenrick claimed he saw no white people).

Zack Polanski announces the defection of Labour councillors
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Zack Polanski announces the defection of Labour councillors

Polanski insists that it is not increased exposure in and of itself that is attracting people to his party but his messaging – he wants to “make hope normal again”.

“I’m not going to be in a wetsuit or be parachuting from a helicopter”, he says in a swipe at Lib Dem leader Ed Davey.

“I think you only need to do stunts if you don’t have something really clear to say and then you need to grab attention.

“I think when you look at the challenges facing this country right now if you talk about taxing wealth and not work, if you talk about the mass inequality in our society and you talk about your solidarity with people living in poverty, with working-class communities, I think these are the things that people both want to hear, but also they want to know our solutions. The good news is I’ve got loads of solutions and the party has loads of solutions. “

Some of those solutions have come under criticism – Reform UK have attacked his policy to legalise drugs and abolish private landlords.

Discontent is fuelling the rise of challenger parties. Pic: PA
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Discontent is fuelling the rise of challenger parties. Pic: PA

Polanski is confident he can win the fight. He says it helps that he talks “quite quickly because it means that I’m able to be bold but also have nuance”. And he is a London Assembly member not an MP, so he has time to be the party’s cheerleader rather than being bogged down with case work.

As for what’s next, the 42-year-old has alluded to conversations with Labour MPs about defections. He has not revealed who they are but today gave an idea of who he would welcome – naming Starmer critic Richard Burgon.

Like Burgon, Polanski believes Starmer “will be gone by May” and that the local elections for Labour “will be disastrous”.

He wants to replace Labour “right across England and Wales” when voters go to the polls, something Reform UK has also vowed to do.

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Is Zack Polanski squeezing the Labour vote?

Could the Greens be kingmakers?

Luke Tryl, director of More in Common, says this reflects a “new axis of competition” as frontline British politics shifts from a battle of left vs right to a battle of process vs anti-establishment.

Farage has been the beneficiary of this battle so far but Tryl says Polanski is “coming up in focus groups” in a way his predecessors didn’t. “He is cutting through”, the pollster says.

However, one big challenge Polanski faces is whether his rise will cause the left vote to fragment and make it easier for Farage to win – something he has said he wants to avoid at all costs.

And yet, asked if he would form a coalition with Labour to keep Farage out of power in the event of a hung parliament, he suggested he would only do so if Sir Keir Starmer is no longer prime minister.

“I have issues with Keir Starmer as prime minister,” he says. “I think he had the trust of the public, but I would say that’s been broken over and over again. If we had a different Labour prime minister that would be a different conversation about where their values are.

He adds: “I do think stopping Nigel Farage has to be a huge mission for any progressive in this country, but the biggest way we can stop Nigel Farage is by people joining the Green Party right now; creating a real alternative to this Labour government, where we say we don’t have to compromise on our values.

“If people wanted to vote for Nigel Farage, they’d vote for Nigel Farage. What does Keir Starmer think he’s doing by offering politics that are similar but watered down? That’s not going to appeal to anyone, and I think that’s why they’re sinking in the polls.”

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Crypto bill deliberation reaches fever pitch between industry execs and US lawmakers

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Crypto bill deliberation reaches fever pitch between industry execs and US lawmakers

Crypto bill deliberation reaches fever pitch between industry execs and US lawmakers

The shutdown could stall progress on the crypto market structure bill, but lawmakers continue to insist that the legislation is on track.

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Congress moves to revamp Bank Secrecy Act’s reporting thresholds after 50 years

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Congress moves to revamp Bank Secrecy Act’s reporting thresholds after 50 years

Congress moves to revamp Bank Secrecy Act’s reporting thresholds after 50 years

The STREAMLINE Act would update anti–money laundering rules by lifting decades-old thresholds for transaction reporting, cutting red tape for banks and crypto companies.

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