Harvey Proctor: Starmer must meet Trump’s tariffs with his own

Harvey Proctor is Private Secretary to the Duke of Rutland and was a Conservative MP from 1979 to 1987.

There was a time when the term ‘special relationship’ was more than a dusty diplomatic cliché. It meant something.

It was the warm rapport between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, forged in common values, military loyalty, and mutual respect. It was the alignment of two great democracies standing shoulder to shoulder against the twin evils of Soviet aggression and economic stagnation.

It was not merely symbolic: it was strategic. It brought down the Berlin Wall and ended the Cold War.

In the early 2000s, that bond found new expression in the controversial but tightly woven partnership of George W Bush and Tony Blair. Though coming from different ideological traditions, both leaders fused American exceptionalism with a liberal interventionist mission. Together, they responded to 9/11 with a unified front, launching both the war in Afghanistan and – more divisively- the invasion of Iraq.

Blair paid a high political price for that loyalty, and history’s verdict remains mixed. Yet one cannot deny the extent of British influence in Washington during that period. Blair was not a bystander; he was at the table, shaping decisions, echoing concerns, and sometimes restraining impulses.

The relationship, however contested, was not one of servility. It was of realpolitik and relevance. Contrast that with today’s farce. Donald Trump’s newly announced tariffs on imports from Britain is not just short-sighted economics – it is a direct insult to the United Kingdom.

To choose one example, our car manufacturing sector – already navigating the choppy waters of post-Brexit trade and the global transition to electric vehicles – now finds itself economically ambushed by a supposed ally. Cars are Britain’s largest export to the United States, with 18 per cent of our exported vehicles heading across the Atlantic.

This tariff isn’t about fairness; it is about America First, Britain Last. And what is our response?

Silence. Politeness. Worse, accommodation. It is reported that the President may soon receive a full state visit: red carpets, pageantry, gun salutes. Such honours are typically reserved for heads of state who embody shared values and priorities such democracy and stability.

Trump threatens each of these with abandon. He praises autocrats, he undermines NATO, and he emboldened those who would see Europe divided and Britain diminished.

Sir Keir Starmer, as prime minister, must do more than furrow his brow. He must act. A reciprocal tariff on all American car imports – including Teslas – is not ‘retaliation’, but principle. Britain cannot afford to look weak. Nor should it look servile.

And what of the King? Constitutionally above the political fray, yes. But the symbolic weight of a state visit is profound. It is not a neutral gesture. It is an endorsement. To honour a man who inflicts economic harm on Britain while celebrating despots abroad would be to degrade the dignity of the Crown itself.

The special relationship was always more than sentiment. It was about aligned interests and mutual regard. When Thatcher stared down Reagan over Grenada, when Blair engaged with Bush not as a puppet but as a partner, Britain had clout. It had a voice.

Under Trump, the relationship has become transactional and hollow. We are no longer an equal, merely a convenience or worse, a punchbag.

It is time to remember who we are. A proud, sovereign nation with a deep democratic tradition. We must respond with resolve, not reverence. No more one-way traffic. No more unearned honours. The special relationship must be a two-way street. Otherwise, it is a delusion.