The British government has reportedly suspended intelligence on Caribbean drug smuggling operations with the United States to distance itself from recent air strikes on cartel boats, seemingly siding with human rights lawyer maximalism over security interests.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy of using “kinetic strikes” to prevent drugs from making it to the streets of America has apparently been rejected by the human rights lawyer-led British government, evidently prioritising adherence to United Nations rules over its relationship with the nation’s most consequential ally.
Intelligence gathered from the string of British overseas territories and UK military intelligence assets stationed in the Caribbean is no longer being shared with Washington, according to CNN. The British government has refused to confirm or deny these claims, citing the importance of secrecy in intelligence matters, but the report cites an internal British source who states the UK stopped sharing intelligence a month ago, after the U.S. started sinking drug smuggler boats, and that his decision was reached because of human rights concerns.
Former UK Home Secretary and Attorney General Suella Braverman, a Conservative lawmaker who has established herself on the Farage-friendly right of the party, slammed the decision and warned that it would further damage Britain’s relationship with the United States, on whom the UK is ultimately dependent for security through the aegis of NATO.
Braverman said “the special relationship is dead”, and laying this at the foot of the Prime Minister, she continued: “It was killed by Keir Starmer and his lefty lawyer mates who live in a fantasy world detached from the rest of us. They hate strong leadership and decisiveness.”
Head of policy for Farage’s Reform UK, Zia Yusuf, also spoke out against the decision, pointing to the hypocrisy of the Starmer government putting Britons at risk by having open borders for “violent criminals and rapists” while simultaneously displaying outsized concern for the human rights of drug traffickers.
Prime Minister Starmer, who was a high-flying human rights lawyer before entering politics, brought with him into power his long-time colleague Richard Hermer — another human rights lawyer — to become attorney general. The government’s siding with U.N. human rights lawyer Volker Türk, who declared the Trump push to end drug smuggling with military means “unacceptable” last month, is likely down to an intervention by Hermer, reports The Daily Telegraph.
This is one of several instances where Britain’s left-wing government has undermined its own security and defence posture, with Hermer allegedly having a hand in developments. Just yesterday, nine four-star British generals signed an unprecedented joint letter warning the government’s obsession with human rights law is forcing soldiers to consider “not only the enemy in front but the lawyer behind”.
The recently retired group of top military men stated an exodus of special forces soldiers is underway because troops no longer have faith in the government to protect them from lawsuits after coming home. They warned that legal activist risks “weaking the moral foundations and operational effectiveness of the forces on which this nation depends” and that such “lawfare is a direct threat to national security.”
Attorney General Hermer was also a key mover in the decision by the UK government to give away a key strategic base in the Indian Ocean at enormous cost to taxpayers, it is stated.
British involvement in counter-narcotics in the Caribbean has been considerable one and goes far beyond intelligence. The Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary has had a presence in the region for centuries, and the counter-narcotics mission goes at least as far back as the 1980s, with British ships and helicopters intercepting drug boats. Beyond that role, British warships in the Caribbean also provide a fly-the-flag or guardship role for British-owned islands, and disaster relief for the annual hurricane season.
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