Donald Trump has declared the ceasefire with Iran “over” in an extraordinary rant at the Nato summit in Ankara, calling Tehran “scum” and “sick people”, just hours after the US launched fresh strikes. “I think it’s over,” the US president told a reporter, adding: “I don’t want to deal with them any more.” Nato chief Mark Rutte defended the strikes as “absolutely necessary”, even as the fragile interim peace deal collapsed.
The eruption came as the UK’s next prime minister – widely expected to be Makerfield MP Andy Burnham – faces mounting pressure to ramp up defence spending. Speaking to MPs on Tuesday, former Nato secretary general Lord Robertson urged the incoming leader to “wake up” the country to the threat of war. “People need to be woken up,” he said. “We need to alarm people because, as the review said, we are under daily attack at the present moment and that will be ramped up.”
“Trump declares Iran ceasefire over at Nato summit as ex-Nato chief warns next UK PM to wake nation to war threat”
Lord Robertson described Britain’s defence investment plan (DIP) as “unconvincing” and said its delay had “caused a degree of confusion inside the Ministry of Defence and considerable disturbance in the industry”. The plan, set out by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last week, increases military spending by £15bn over four years, prioritising the nuclear deterrent and a shift to drones. But Lord Robertson said the challenge “is now bigger, more serious, and earlier than we had anticipated, and yet the defence investment plan itself doesn’t come up to it”. He warned that the “corrosive complacency” he identified in April “applies to the whole political leadership”.
At the summit, Rutte called on allies to continue supporting Ukraine and to provide “clear and credible” plans to commit 3.5% of GDP to defence. Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis wants Burnham – who is expected to succeed Sir Keir – to set out how he will reach that target. But Jarvis would not reveal whether he had spoken to Burnham in person about the spending. Sir Keir has said his successor will build on the DIP, and Burnham has said he would “take my responsibilities fully”. Lord Robertson said the UK “will have a force to fight with when the day comes” but added it may take a “crisis” to raise sufficient funds – a warning that now echoes through the summit halls in Ankara.
