Sir Keir Starmer has no choice but to tolerate and accommodate Donald Trump - Yorkshire Post Letters

I read Andy Brown's piece on Keir Starmer's dealings with Donald Trump with considerable mixed feelings.

On the one hand, it is difficult to disagree with any of the criticisms he heaps upon Trump; we are all keeping a close watch on that erratic gentleman to see if his bizarre and unexpected behaviour over a possible minerals deal actually contributes to profitability for Trump enterprises, in which case, all of the crimes for which he has already been found guilty will pale into insignificance.

But on the other hand, Trump is not the USA and the USA is not Trump. In just under four years, Trump will be a memory and we can hope that sanity will return to our longest and most respected ally; notwithstanding a number of temporary glitches in the past.

Trump's behaviour in the last month or so has surprised the world, and to single out Keir Starmer from all the world's other leaders of humiliating our country sounds a little like hysterical knee jerking.

For the sake of world peace and world stability, it is vital for existing allies to remain steadfast in the face of aberrations, whether they originate from the likes of Putin and the Russian state, or from self-serving egotists who happen, temporarily, to hold power elsewhere.

Andy Brown's eagerness to attack Starmer betrays a failure to comprehend the global picture.

For Ukraine to succeed in resisting Russian aggression, there is no option other than having the USA on its side - any other analysis would be foolish.

If that means that we need to tolerate and accommodate the unexpected actions of one who needs to be onside, then mature statespersons, such as Sir Keir Starmer and President Macron, need to find ways through the morass, and immature opportunists need to learn how to appreciate bigger pictures.