Andy Burnham will be frustrated if the Reform UK leader has more influence than the official ambassador, but his influence could prove to be crucial on the Falklands
Nigel Farage has the ear of the president and those close to him (Image: AFP via Getty)
In November 2016, just weeks after being elected president for the first time, Donald Trump suggested that Britain should appoint Nigel Farage as the US ambassador. The president-elect declared: “He would do a great job!”
A decade later, Andy Burnham may well wonder if the Reform UK leader wields more influence in the White House than the official ambassador, Sir Christian Turner.
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Mr Farage loathes the deal negotiated by Sir Keir Starmer to give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and then pay to lease back the UK-US Diego Garcia military base. The Tories also regard this as an act of expensive lunacy that will weaken Britain just as China seeks to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Mr Trump did not hold back when he gave his opinion of the deal while sitting beside Mr Burnham in New York this week: “I don’t support it. I think it’s terrible.”
Mr Farage reportedly lobbied the US government in recent days on the issue. This follows months of hostile briefing, with the Conservatives’ Dame Priti Patel taking every opportunity to denounce the deal on her visits to the US while she was shadow foreign secretary.
The Reform leader might as well be a rival ambassador. On a host of issues, he will command more influence on the president than drab diplomats.
Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016
Mr Burnham faces a dilemma: Does he accept this as a difficult fact of life, or does he try and enlist the Brexiteer’s help for the common good of the country?
Mr Farage is never going to get behind Labour’s ambitions to forge closer links with the European Union, but he could make an important contribution on a matter of national security.
The president’s comment last month that the US position on the Falklands could be reviewed will have emboldened Argentinian nationalists, dismayed islanders and strained the special relationship. The last thing Mr Burnham needs is a foreign policy crisis in the southern hemisphere, which exposes the glaring weaknesses in Britain’s military.
Argentina’s Javier Milei has upended the political establishment (Image: Getty)
Mr Farage is someone who can talk to both Mr Trump and Argentina’s chainsaw-wielding, anarcho-capitalist president Javier Milei. He could prove an important secret weapon.
One thing Mr Burnham could do is grant Mr Farage membership of the Privy Council. This would be a show of respect for the leader of the insurgent party and clear the way for him to receive security and intelligence briefings. A host of SNP MPs have received this honour.
Left-wingers would be appalled at the spectacle of Mr Farage getting to prefix his name with “Right Honourable”. But it would signal to the world that when it comes to matters of core national defence, Britons stand united.