Sir Keir Starmer has responded to Donald Trump’s threat to seize Greenland after the Venezuela operation, planting his flag solidly in the Danish camp.

He joined other European leaders in saying the future of Greenland is for the people who live there and their rulers in Denmark to decide. 

Starmer told political editor Beth Rigby: “Denmark is a close European ally, a close NATO ally, and the future therefore has to be for Greenland, for the Kingdom of Denmark, and only for Greenland, and the Kingdom of Denmark. We’re absolutely clear about that.”

Asked about the Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen telling Trump to stop threatening Greenland, Starmer says that “I stand with her” and that she is “right about the future of Greenland”.

Earlier, Home Office minister Mike Tapp told Mornings on Sky News the government would not warn Trump against taking military action against Greenland, saying he didn’t want to talk about “hypotheticals”.