Whitehall is bristling. News that JD Vance, the US Vice President, is holed up at a luxury Swiss resort for talks on Iran has sent a jolt through the Foreign Office. The optics are dreadful. Vance, photographed sipping something expensive in the Alpine sun, while Britain’s own negotiating team cools their heels in a drab Geneva conference room. This is not a co-ordinated dance. It is a solo performance.
The message is clear. The Americans are setting the tempo. Starmer’s team, already jittery about the so-called ‘special relationship’, now has to contend with a diplomatic side-show. A senior diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, was blunt: “We’re being played. Vance is signalling that Washington sees London as a junior partner, not an equal. The Swiss location is a deliberate choice. Neutral ground for a not-so-neutral flex.”
This is vintage Washington. Bypass the normal channels. Use proximity to Europe but keep the real action at arm’s length. Starmer’s allies are furious. They had hoped for a joint US-UK statement on Iran, a show of unity. Instead, they got a tweet from Vance’s team about “productive discussions” with unnamed interlocutors.
The timing is a knife twist. Starmer is preparing for a potential visit to the White House next month. A visit that was supposed to reset relations after the turbulence of the Boris years. Now, the ground has shifted. Tory backbenchers are already sharpening their knives. “Starmer can’t even get a phone call right,” one backbencher hissed to me over a pint at the Strangers’ Bar. “Vance is treating him like a regional mayor.”
Inside the Cabinet, the mood is grim. Defence and the Foreign Secretary are demanding answers. Did No.10 get a heads-up? The official line from Downing Street is a terse “we are in close contact with our American partners”. Which translates to: we found out from the newspapers.
This is a classic power play. The Swiss setting is not just about comfort. It is about territory. Switzerland is NATO’s back garden. By choosing it, Vance is reminding everyone that the US owns the lawn. The Iran talks are a side-show. The real negotiation is about the hierarchy within the Western alliance.
Starmer’s dilemma is acute. He cannot afford a public row with the US. Labour’s poll numbers are fragile. The economy is a bog. He needs American support on trade and Ukraine. But swallowing this snub will embolden the Tory narrative of a weak leader. His own party’s left flank is muttering about ‘colonial subservience’.
What happens next? The betting is that No.10 will try to spin this as a ‘working holiday’. Aides will whisper that Vance’s resort has secure communications. But the damage is done. The narrative is set. Vance is the star. Starmer is the extra.
One thing is certain. The Lobby is already writing the next chapter. If Starmer’s Washington visit is downgraded or cancelled, the game is up. If he returns with nothing but a photo op, the knives will be out. The rule of Westminster is simple. You are either in the room or you are on the menu. Right now, Starmer is looking like the main course.
