Keir Starmer has been mercilessly mocked on social media for ‘copying Trump’ with an ’embarrassing’ TikTok video about the Iran conflict.
The clip, set to the guitar riff of Dire Straits hit ‘Money for Nothing’, opens with footage of Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters flying over the Labour leader’s head.
‘Our number one priority is protecting our people’ Sir Keir is heard narrating, with the word ‘our’ sounding strangely elongated.
As more high-octane footage flashes up of F-35 jets on sorties, the Prime Minister continues speaking – although his voice is at times barely audible over the music.
Another clip flashes up of a F-35 shooting down a drone this week, before the video cuts to an RAF Typhoon in Akrotiri. TikTok users immediately criticised the clip, with some asking whether it was a ‘joke’ given its poor production quality.
‘Thinks he’s Trump,’ quipped one user, in a reference to the dramatic and often bizarre TikTok videos pumped out by the White House account – such as videos of American bombing to the tune of Macarena.
One X user mocked the Prime Minister’s Downing Street video team, joking: ‘Can you add more helicopters?’ as choppers appear copy‑and‑pasted on top of the Prime Minister’s head.
Two other commenters piled on, with one saying the ‘editing is almost as bad as our foreign policy,’ and another posting ‘graphic design is my passion’ alongside a screenshot highlighting the editing flaw.
The clip, set to the guitar riff of Dire Straits hit ‘Money for Nothing’, opens with footage of Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters flying over the Labour leader’s head
Others asked if it was a good time for Sir Keir to boast about his military leadership when Britain had to depend on Greek, Spanish, French and Italian vessels to intercept drones heading to Akrotiri due to delays with dispatching a Royal Navy warship.
Keir Starmer finally ordered the deployment of HMS Dragon on Tuesday, but it might not arrive for a fortnight due to repairs.
‘Maggie had a fleet on the way to the Falklands THREE days after they were invaded,’ a TikTok user posted under his video. ‘Keir is still getting one ship welded so it might go next week….’
Sir Keir has been branded delusional after insisting he has a grip on the Middle East crisis.
At an emergency press conference last night, the Prime Minister claimed he was delivering ‘calm, level-headed leadership’.
But his relationship with Britain’s most important ally hit a new low as Donald Trump branded him a ‘loser’.
Sir Keir urged Mr Trump to ‘de-escalate’ the crisis and negotiate with what is left of Iran’s leadership. But the PM admitted that, despite the global crisis, he had not spoken to the US President for almost a week following their spectacular falling-out.
In the latest farcical scenes, the UK failed to get its first evacuation flight from Oman off the ground, despite other countries having no such problems.
The Prime Minister has been accused of letting the Iran crisis slip out of his control
Footage of an RAF Typhoon taking off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus
Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said Sir Keir was in denial, adding: ‘Never in the history of our great nation has a Government been so feeble at a time when our people and allies are under assault.
‘Britain’s weak Prime Minister has failed in his duty to stand up for Britain’s place in the world, failed to work with our allies, failed to promote our interests in the region, and failed to provide the leadership needed to protect our military personal, our bases, and British nationals.’
Sir Keir was stung into a public defence of his actions following days of criticism.
At a hastily arranged press conference, he accused President Trump of plunging the Middle East ‘into chaos’.
He defended his decision to avoid taking any ‘offensive’ action against Tehran even after British bases were targeted.
Sir Keir suggested that the fallout from the conflict could go on for months, with potentially huge impacts on energy bills and the cost of living – and the possibility of a new refugee crisis.
He acknowledged that relatives of the tens of thousands of British citizens trapped in the war zone were ‘worried sick’ but said a mass evacuation ‘is not going to happen overnight’.
He added: ‘I want you to know that your Government is resolute in our response, at home and abroad.
Lionel Messi presents Mr Trump with a trophy during an event honoring the Argentine’s team Inter Miami CF
The White House regularly pumps out dramatic and often bizarre videos of its military actions, including clips of American bombing to the tune of Macarena
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‘We will do everything we can to protect British lives, uphold British values and safeguard the national interest.’
Sir Keir did not deny reports suggesting that he had wanted to allow US jets to fly ‘defensive’ missions from British bases from the outset, but was blocked by Ed Miliband and other senior ministers who questioned whether having a positive relationship with the US was ‘a good thing right now for the Labour Party’.
Asked whether Mr Miliband was now in charge of foreign policy, the PM’s spokesman said: ‘Clearly the PM and Foreign Secretary have been key players in decision-making around this, along with key members of the Cabinet, as you would expect.’
Labour’s former shadow chancellor John McDonnell suggested Sir Keir would have been forced out if he had allowed Britain to be dragged into the war.
Kemi Badenoch said it was ‘shocking’ that party political considerations appeared to have played a part in determining the Government’s response to the US’s request.
She said the RAF should join bombing raids aimed at taking out Iran’s ballistic missile launchers, telling the BBC: ‘Sometimes the best way to de-escalate a situation is to try and finish it quickly, rather than let it drag out because you don’t want to get involved.
‘Once our bases had been attacked, we became part of this, whether we liked it or not.’
