PM hosts Danish counterpart for dinner in Downing Street

Sir Keir Starmer is hosting his Danish counterpart for a working dinner in Downing Street on Tuesday evening.

The UK Prime Minister and Denmark’s premier Mette Frederiksen are expected to discuss European security as well as the issue of migration at the meeting.

The dinner comes amid a diplomatic row between Denmark and the US over Donald Trump’s claims that he wants to acquire Greenland.

Ms Frederiksen has insisted the autonomous Danish territory is not for sale, but the US president has repeatedly expressed an interest in taking control of the island.

As Sir Keir greeted her outside Number 10 on Tuesday evening, media on the other side of the street shouted to him asking whether Denmark had his support on the issue, but he welcomed her inside without answering.

Earlier, Downing Street said the Prime Minister is not seeking to become a go-between in the dispute.

Asked if Sir Keir Starmer was interested in becoming an interlocutor, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “No.”

He added: “Denmark is an important Joint Expeditionary Force member, a vital partner on migration and a key Nato ally, so expect the bilateral to cover a range of issues focused on defence and migration and European security.”

Asked whether the UK would “stand in solidarity” with Denmark if its territorial integrity was threatened, the spokesman said he would “not get into hypotheticals” or “offer a running commentary on these issues”.

He had said the previous day that the UK’s long-standing position on Denmark and Greenland is “well understood”.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey called for Sir Keir to express “total solidarity” with Denmark in the meeting.

He said: “Donald Trump’s attempts to bully Denmark over Greenland are totally unacceptable and must be called out for what they are.

“His attempts to threaten a Nato ally with military force are dangerous and wrong, and will just embolden the likes of (Vladimir) Putin who want to see the West divided.

“I hope Keir Starmer will express the UK’s total solidarity in his meeting with the Danish Prime Minister today. The UK has a proud history of standing with our allies when their sovereignty is threatened, and we must do the same with Denmark now.”

Ms Frederiksen has called for a “collective and robust response” within the EU should the president press ahead with his threats to take over the territory.

Sir Keir has insisted that Britain can work with both the new administration in Washington and its European partners without choosing between them.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with the EU’s 27 leaders in Brussels on Monday, he said it was not an “either-or” decision to both keep Mr Trump onside and seek closer ties with the bloc.

As well as the issue of Greenland, the looming prospect of a trade war between the EU and US largely overshadowed the Prime Minister’s trip to Belgium.

Comments from Mr Trump overnight into Monday suggested that he was poised to expand his tariff regime to both the UK and Brussels, but that he thinks a deal can be done with Britain.

He later agreed to a 30-day pause on his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada as America’s two largest trading partners took steps to appease his concerns about border security and drug trafficking.

Earlier on Monday, Number 10 said the Prime Minister trusted Mr Trump and pointed to “a really constructive early set of conversations” between the two men.

“We’ve got a fair and balanced trading relationship which benefits both sides of the Atlantic,” Sir Keir’s spokesman said.

“It’s worth around £300 billion and we are each other’s single largest investors, with £1.2 trillion invested in each other’s economies.”