Politics
Tory MPs bemoan Kemi Badenoch’s near ban on criticising Trump
Tory MPs are complaining about Kemi Badenoch‘s ‘controlling’ approach and her effective ban on criticising the Trump team.
Insiders said the party leader, pictured below, did not want her ministers doing too much press. ‘We feel we have to walk on eggshells,’ one MP told The Mail on Sunday, describing Mrs Badenoch’s office as ‘controlling’.
For her front bench, certain topics have been off limits – in particular, criticism for President Trump and his top team. ‘Kemi thinks she’s friends with (Vice-President) Vance and can influence the Maga crowd,’ one MP said. ‘It is delusional.’
Even backbench Tory MPs have refused to comment on stories for fear of being reprimanded amid being told not to do too much press.
Tory MPs are complaining about Kemi Badenoch’s (pictured) ‘controlling’ approach and her effective ban on criticising the Trump team
President Donald Trump has caused much controversy since he returned to the White House earlier this year
Last week MPs who privately rallied against Mr Trump’s chief negotiator Steve Witkoff’s (pictured) comments on Ukraine giving up territory said they did not go public because they knew the leader’s office would not approve
Another MP said: ‘I feel more worried about getting told off by my party than offending the US. Russia is getting a free pass. I don’t know why we’re not calling that out.’
Only senior MPs such as former foreign secretaryJames Cleverly, who writes in today’s The Mail on Sunday, feel they can criticise the Trump administration. Last week MPs who privately rallied against Mr Trump’s chief negotiator Steve Witkoff’s comments on Ukraine giving up territory said they did not go public because they knew the leader’s office would not approve.
Mr Witkoff was accused of ‘regurgitating Kremlin propaganda’ in an interview on the matter. Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel declined to comment. Sources close to Ms Patel said they kept quiet because it is ‘not diplomatically helpful’.
A spokesman for Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Kemi has said foreign policy must act in Britain’s national interest. If our domestic industries are going to avoid punishing tariffs then we must act responsibly in our approach to the US.’
Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel (pictured) declined to comment. Sources close to Ms Patel said they kept quiet because it is ‘not diplomatically helpful’
If we’re at odds with America, China will be licking its lips
Analysis by James Cleverly
When I went to China in 2023 as Foreign Secretary, I had a list of contentious issues to discuss, from Taiwan to Beijing’s cyber activity and sanctions against British MPs. Foreign Minister Wang Yi calmly defended his government and then moved on to a charm offensive, talking about areas of potential UK-China co-operation.
James Cleverly served as Foreign Secretary for the Conservative Government from 2022 until 2023
But two years on and the reality is President Trump risks delivering China’s aims by disrupting America’s relationship with its long-term friends.
The post-war networks built by Trump’s predecessors are being quickly eroded. Take the hollowing out of America’s main aid agency USAid, set up by JFK at the height of the Cold War to push back against Soviet influence. It is now Beijing rather than Moscow buying influence.
And, of course, there is a troubling question mark over the Trump administration’s support for Nato.Defence pacts rely on predictability, and our partners in the Pacific will not be encouraged by America’s behaviour to its European allies. The Marshall Plan pumped billions into post-war Europe to build Western capitalist economies, rather than Communist states linked through coercion.
If America makes trade more expensive, China will be ready to pick up any displaced demand. I have no doubt President Xi is delighted with America’s public spats. It is, after all, his geopolitical ambition to ostracise the US – but it shouldn’t also be Trump’s.
His point was the UK should come out from the ‘US’s shadow’ and not be dictated to by Washington – to drive a wedge between the UK and US, and to break what China sees as American hegemony.