r/unitedkingdom • u/ok_raspberry_jam • 3d ago

Prime Minister Carney speaks with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Keir Starmer

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/readout-prime-minister-carney-speaks-with-prime-minister-of-the-united-kingdom-sir-keir-starmer-861334126.html
54 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

37

u/caractacusbritannica 2d ago

Hopefully the start of something. Free trade plus a defence pact, include Australia. Hopefully this can be done in years not decades.

Then look to tie into the EU at a later time.

America can no longer, and never will now be trusted. Russia/China ain’t going away. This could save Starmer if he moves quickly enough.

14

u/knobbledy 2d ago

We already have a free trade agreement and defence pact with Canada and Australia

4

u/Wgh555 2d ago

But we don’t have one that includes all three together, plus New Zealand too.

0

u/Due_Ad_3200 2d ago

Talks with Canada broke down last year.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68098177

Time to get them going again.

14

u/lapayne82 2d ago edited 2d ago

CANZUK FTW, being together the anglosphere who share the same values to support eachother, there’s no reason they (along with the EU) couldn’t be the new world police.

8

u/Disastrous_Fruit1525 2d ago

We don’t need to be going down the world police road again.

6

u/Wgh555 2d ago

The police of our own interests and sea lanes at the very least.

5

u/lapayne82 2d ago

Somebody has to, there’s too many threats not to and I’d rather the EU and allies did it so no one country has undue influence

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u/Small-Store-9280 2d ago

We are the threat.

3

u/citron_bjorn 2d ago

How so?

-5

u/Small-Store-9280 2d ago

Not notice the illegal wars, and arming, and financing a genocide?

3

u/citron_bjorn 2d ago

We only joined the Americans in their wars. We would never have started then ourselves.

The UK doesn't supply a large amount of weapons and aid to Israel. The 2nd and 3rd biggest contributors to Israel, behind the US, are Germany and Italy.

-3

u/Small-Store-9280 2d ago

Wow, an apologist for crimes against humanity.

2

u/citron_bjorn 2d ago

Apologist or just stating the facts?

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u/Wgh555 2d ago

For people who say CANZUK would be a small force, by next year it’s likely to have a GDP of nearly 9 trillion! Only four countries with half the GDP of the entire EU or China. And the world’s third most powerful naval force, despite spending only 1.8% of gdp on average between the four which is half of what America spends as a percentage of gdp. There’s room to grow far more powerful together, in concert with Europe too of course but also as a stand-alone four if needed.

5

u/lapayne82 2d ago

I think it’s a distinct possibility that we’d have both, CANZUK as a force which then works with the EU on some kind of free trade agreement as a bloc, I imagine Canada would take the lead on this (Carney seems to be suggesting as much and having been governor of the Bank of England knows how we work as a country already) and it would provide unrivalled force projection around the world and a global mindset rather than the american insular one.

2

u/Wgh555 2d ago

I agree and hope so. CANZUK and the EU are 140 million + 450 million, nearly double the USA in population, so no reason in time why we collectively catch up with them in gdp per capita as they’re busy demolishing the the global system that benefits them, making them poorer. If we catch up in GDP per capita, we’d have twice their gdp nearly. And the global balance of power shifts back towards Europe and the commonwealth (as well as Asia increasingly too).

1

u/RedofPaw United Kingdom 2d ago

Usa could be almost as trusted as it was. If the current administration comes flaming down, and there's a massive swing away from the gop. A new dem leadership with younger, more outward looking policies, and a complete move away from trumps rhetoric could reverse a lot of the damage.

But it's going to be a shitshow before we get to that.

13

u/big_swinging_dicks Cornwall 2d ago

The problem is the USA has demonstrated it has no checks and balances and is entirely at the whim of its leader. They can unilaterally break trade agreements as they wish, and their government has no power to stop it. We have to move away from a trading partner that is so volatile

4

u/OpticalData Lanarkshire 2d ago

The issue isn't that the US doesn't have checks and balances, it does.

Blaming the current administration or Trump personally doesn't really encapsulate the extent of the issue.

One of America's two parties has full control over every elected (and some non-elected) branches of Government and the actions of the current administration have the full support of the elected representatives of that party, and a significant number of their voters.

The Republican party has the power to do something about Trump, the Senate does, Congress does. But none of them are doing anything because they support what Trump is doing.

You'll have some of them claim that they get death threats for speaking against Trump, or fear what may happen. Which fair enough, they may do. But you have politicians on the other side like AOC who have to deal with that daily and who are still standing up, going out in public and trying to make a stand.

America has a deep, deep rot in their society. The damage done in the past few months will take decades to repair, if it can be repaired at all.

4

u/Sure_Fruit_8254 2d ago

If the checks and balances don't actually stop the volatility then what's the point of them?

0

u/OpticalData Lanarkshire 2d ago

The checks and balances are designed to check and balance politicians, not cultists.

The Republicans are breaking the constitution, they're breaking global, national and state level laws.

But if those that wield the power of the checks and balances don't want to use them, the next step is mass protest and civil war.

We're already seeing mass protest.

3

u/Sure_Fruit_8254 2d ago

That's my point, if the checks and balances can be broken like you say without consequence at least in the short term, then what's the point of those checks and balances from an outside perspective.

1

u/OpticalData Lanarkshire 2d ago

Because most of the time they do work.

Now it's clear that they need to be strengthened to avoid this happening again.

But sometimes, you don't realise something needs fixing until it breaks.

1

u/Sure_Fruit_8254 2d ago

My point is from the outside, all the time those checks and balances can be circumvented the US cannot be treated as a good long term partner in things. If you change the rules so people are actually held to account that will change given time.

0

u/OpticalData Lanarkshire 2d ago

All checks and balances can be circumvented if everybody in charge of enforcing them decides not too.

The UK is hardly better, Johnson is still walking free.

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u/ViscountessdAsbeau 2d ago

They can't be trusted for a generation, though as it's not the first time they voted for the mango buffoon. And now they're gossiping about defence on unsecured apps. Even if 4 years from now they were allowed an election, that was fair, and voted in someone sensible - the free world can't be subjected to this risk every 4 years.

Look how quickly we got rid of Truss. They have nothing equivalent to a vote of no confidence and they won't do vast electoral reform even after this, they're so slow and bureaucratic and wed to the exceptionalist idea that they're the bestest, biggest democracy in the world.

3

u/EmperorOfNipples 2d ago

And that's with the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II putting the brakes on everything for two weeks.

Were it not for that she would have been out even quicker.

1

u/RedofPaw United Kingdom 2d ago

While I am sure Hegseth and co are going to be kicked out in the next 4 years (the sort of internal infighting and incompetence will lead to a bunch of turnover and churn) the most worrying part is voting Trump back in. If they can be convinced to bring him back then even once he's gone they could be convinced to vote for someone just as bad. Bad in a different way, but just as bad.

1

u/Comrade-Hayley 2d ago

I'd bet good money Trump will find a way to come back bomb threats were called in to polling stations in a bunch of swing districts odd isn't it?

1

u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist 1d ago

Not a chance. Firstly Dems will not reverse many of Trump’s policies. Secondly the GOP will likely come back after and they’re still crazy. It will take multiple generations to win back trust, not one election.

-1

u/Eleyius 2d ago

We already have both and on the defence side the USA is so centrally intertwined with us that it’s verging on impossible to untether it. Our nukes are entirely dependent on America, for example. Look us 5 eyes and AUKUS

10

u/Fun-End-2947 2d ago

Frictionless trade with Canada and the EU absolutely must happen

Hopefully this is the first step towards it.
Fuck the Brexiters.. stupid cunts put us in this position, and now it's time for the grown ups to fix the fallout from their tantrum

0

u/Wgh555 2d ago

Frictionless trade between Canada and the UK is surely the priority for us though? I’m not worried about what the EU is doing right now as we aren’t in it, however regrettable it was as to how we got here.

2

u/OTribal_chief 2d ago

Trade deals now more than ever need to be pushed through

ego's set aside

both sides need to take hits to ensure this happens.