Liberal Democrat leader Edward Davey criticized UK politician Nigel Farage for weakly opposing U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on the UK and European countries over Greenland, calling it pathetic bootlicking, in an X post during the 6:46 p.m. to 7:16 p.m. UTC window on January 17, 2026. The Green Party condemned the tariffs as bullying in a separate statement reported in the same period. Davey quoted Farage's earlier statement, āWe donāt always agree with the US government and in this case we certainly donāt. These tariffs will hurt us. If Greenland is vulnerable to malign influences, then have another look at Diego Garcia,ā and responded, āTrump is targeting us for standing with our allies, and the best you can do is āweāll agree to disagreeā? Pathetic. You can always count on Farage to bootlick for Trump rather than stand up for Britain,ā according to his X post at https://x.com/EdwardJDavey/status/2012599029108994417. The Green Party stated, āDonald Trump treats the international stage like a schoolyard playground, attempting to bully and brute force other countries into compliance... The UK must not be cowed,ā criticizing the UK government for appeasing Trump and urging resistance to protect Britain's economic future, as posted by @PolitlcsUK at https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2012592507616403926. These reactions follow Trump's White House X post earlier on January 17 announcing 10% tariffs starting February 1 on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland over the Greenland dispute, rising to 25% on June 1 until a purchase deal, as reported in prior periods amid protests in Nuuk.
