JD Vance hits back at claims he disrespected British troops

Vance hits back as he's accused of 'erasing from history' the sacrifices of British troops

The US vice president has responded to the outrage in the wake of his comments last night that a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine would be "20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years" (more here).

JD Vance's comment in a Fox News interview has been labelled "deeply disrespectful", and he has been accused of "erasing from history the hundreds of British troops who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan".

Former Tory veterans minister Johnny Mercer called him a "clown" and told The Sun he "needs to wind his neck in".

'UK has fought bravely with US'

Although only the UK and France are the only countries to have pledged troops to a potential peacekeeping force, Vance labelled the suggestion he was referring to those two allies "absurdly dishonest".

"I don't even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond," he said.

The vice president added: "There are many countries who are volunteering (privately or publicly) support who have neither the battlefield experience nor the military equipment to do anything meaningful."

A history of JD Vance riling the UK

JD Vance seems to save some of his most incendiary comments about other countries for the UK.

Donald Trump's vice president has regularly caused outrage among MPs, most recently with what many saw as a perceived dig at British troops.

Here's a quick look back at the occasions on which he's put his foot in it.

'An Islamist country with nukes'

During last year's presidential election campaign, Vance suggested Labour's victory here made Britain the "first truly Islamist country" with nuclear weapons.

Speaking at a conservative conference in Washington, he took the opportunity to "beat up on the UK" while talking about nukes, which he said were "one of the big dangers in the world".

Recalling a conversation about who might be "the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon", he said rather than it being somewhere like Iran, he settled on the UK "since Labour just took over".

'Backsliding' on free speech

Vance used a landmark speech at the Munich Security Conference to criticise the UK and Europe over free speech.

Speaking with unusual directness to some of the US's closest allies, he said there had been a "backslide away from conscience rights" that had put "basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs".

Mr Vance criticised the country for the conviction of a 51-year-old man who was given a conditional discharge for breaching a safe zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, and the "safe access zones" enforced outside such facilities in Scotland.

Vance vs Starmer in the Oval Office

In what was otherwise a love-in between Trump and Keir Starmer, the prime minister felt the need to bite back at Vance after he again criticised free speech in the UK during his trip to the White House.

Vance doubled down on his remarks in Munich during the meeting, claiming the government's stance is something that affects US tech companies and, therefore, American citizens.

Starmer interjected, saying "we've had free speech for a very long time, it will last a long time, and we are very proud of that".

'Wind your neck in'

Former Tory veterans minister Johnny Mercer went a bit Danny Dyer with his criticism of Vance, after the VP dismissed the idea of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

It's been regularly mooted by the UK government as something British troops could play a key role in.

Vance said such a force would amount to "20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years".

He has since denied he was referring to the UK or France, despite those two countries being the only ones to have said they could contribute.

Several MPs, including former troops, had criticised what they saw as a snide dig towards Britain, with Mercer calling Vance a "clown" who should "wind his neck in".

PM spoke to Trump last night - but No 10 refuses to comment on US halting aid to Ukraine

Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Donald Trump last night, his official spokesman has told journalists.

The pair discussed Ukraine, but it is not clear whether the call took place before or after a White House official announced that the US is pausing all military aid to Ukraine.

No 10 refused to comment on the pause because a formal announcement has not been made.

The spokesman also refused to say if the PM had been given any sort of guidance from the US before the move.

For context - our deputy political editor Sam Coates reported on the Politics At Jack And Sam's podcast this morning: "A little after 9pm last night, I started to get WhatsApps from someone inside government saying that they feared that the US had pulled all support from Ukraine.

"And then it started to seep out at midnight."

It is understood that the phone call between Starmer and Trump took place in mid-evening.

UK blind sided by Trump's shock move as gulf with US appears to be widening

The gulf between British foreign policy rhetoric and that of the US appears to be widening. 

And after the US made the abrupt decision to pause aid to Ukraine, the Kremlin will be pleased with the ongoing rift between Zelenksyy and the American administration. 

Despite these developments, senior government sources insist to Sky News all efforts are being made to bring the US and Ukraine back together to move the diplomatic chess pieces closer to a peace deal. 

However, it appears the government was somewhat blind sided by America’s decision to pause aid to Ukraine. 

Yesterday in the House of Commons, the prime minister said pausing aid to Ukraine was not the position of the US government, to be proved wrong within a matter of hours.

PM's job just got even harder

Keir Starmer also insisted at the despatch box that a minerals deal between the US and Ukraine would not be enough alone to provide the security guarantees Ukraine is in need of.

Again, within hours, vice president JD Vance told Fox News a minerals deal was a better security guarantee for Ukraine than "20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years".

While Starmer has been praised on all sides of the political divide for his deft diplomacy over the weekend, this public rift between the UK's closest ally and the nation defending Europe from Russian expansionism can only make his mission of facilitating a peace deal harder.

Shadow defence secretary labels JD Vance comment 'deeply disrespectful'

The US vice president has provoked fury this morning by referring to a potential British and French peacekeeping force as "20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years".

JD Vance made the comments in an interview with Fox News that aired overnight, and it's safe to say that they have not gone down well on this side of the Atlantic.

Tory MP and shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge pointed out X that NATO's Article 5 (which states that if a member country is attacked, all other members will come to its aid) has only ever been invoked once - by the US after 9/11.

He added: "Britain and France came to their aid deploying [thousands] of personnel to Afghanistan, including my own brother and numerous parliamentary colleagues, past and present.

"It’s deeply disrespectful to ignore such service and sacrifice."

'Sinister attempt to deny reality'

The Lib Dem defence spokesperson, Helen Maguire MP, accused the vice president of "erasing from history the hundreds of British troops who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan".

Maguire, who is a former captain in the Royal Military Police who served in Iraq, continued: "I saw firsthand how American and British soldiers fought bravely together shoulder to shoulder.

"Six of my own regiment, the Royal Military Police, didn't return home from Iraq. This is a sinister attempt to deny that reality."

She added that the UK's ambassador, Lord Peter Mandelson, should demand an apology from Vance.

And former armed forces minister James Heappey, who has also served in the British Army, added he is "sad to hear the relationship reduced to this".

The war in Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks saw 454 British troops killed, and a further estimated 2,000 British military and civilian personnel were wounded in action.

179 British troops were killed in Iraq, and around 3,500 more were injured.

-SKY NEWS