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The so-called “special relationship” between the UK and the US has sparked fierce debate among Independent readers, with many questioning whether it ever truly existed — and whether it should survive.
Against the backdrop of escalating trade tensions and Donald Trump’s new tariffs on British exports, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has suggested that reconnecting with Europe may now matter more than clinging to historic US ties.
Her comments in Washington followed a new Ipsos poll which revealed that nearly 70 per cent of Brits no longer believe in a special relationship with America — a view echoed by our readers.
In our own poll, 35 per cent said they never believed in the special relationship, 59 per cent said times have changed, and just 6 per cent think it is still important.
Some readers argued that Britain has clung for too long to an outdated myth, born from the Second World War and nurtured by politicians unwilling to accept Britain’s post-imperial decline.
Several described the relationship as one-sided, with the US benefitting at Britain’s expense, and one even branded it "abject subservience."
Others pointed out that Britain has more in common culturally and economically with Europe than with the US, and urged a shift towards closer European ties.
Overall, readers seemed united in believing that the "special relationship" has become a relic of the past and agreed that a shared language and history are not enough to justify continued loyalty today.
Here’s what you had to say:
Europe is our future
This idea dates from Churchill during the war, and he was half American. I suppose the attraction is that the US has taken over the power that the now-defunct British Empire used to have.
I have long believed that Europe is our future. Sadly, our politicians think otherwise. What Reeves said about needing to connect with Europe is not before time.
49niner
Nonsense
This special relationship nonsense is due mainly to the Second World War. The Americans only joined after Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. If that hadn't happened, it would have been us and Russia.
As for the Lend-Lease, the Americans got very well paid for that. It took us until the 21st century to pay that off. But we should be respectful and grateful to all those Americans who gave their lives for our freedom.
RWG50
Obsessed with past glory
England has always been obsessed with past glory. Hence, Brexit.
We, as Europeans, believe in our union. Brits still believe they are superior, and because of that feeling, they are unable to conceive of being a member of the EU.
As for the special relationship, let's not forget they fought a war to get rid of the king. The only thing both share is English... and in our world of today, that's not enough.
Europeancitizen
Abject, grovelling subservience
The Special Relationship only ever existed in the minds of British politicians, especially Labour politicians. In this sense, it still exists, but “special relationship” was never the right word: how about “abject, grovelling subservience”? Yes, the USA was a key ally during the Second World War. So was the USSR — do we have a special relationship with them too?
Actually, the situation post-dates 1945. The Attlee government emerged from the war hoping to maintain the British Empire and hold onto superpower status. When they realised that Britain did not have the industrial muscle for this, and especially after the sudden loss of the Indian Empire, they decided that hanging on to Uncle Sam’s coat-tails would be the best option.
You can date this to 1948, when Britain decided to pull out of the Greek Civil War and also to go along with the disastrous American support for a Zionist state in Palestine — something the British had previously opposed. After that came and the Cold War, enthusiastically supported by the Labour government.
envious
The British are like the Americans
Do I think America listens to us? Not really. Do I think the British are more like the Americans than any other people in the world? Yes. And that's more than an empire that all speaks our language, but to have inherited this position, too.
Nepo baby states that can't really do anything in the real world, but that's no barrier to ruling the world. Power without merit lingers on in its position and its place, the least civilised part of the civilised world.
TheRedSquirrel
Sceptical
I’ve always been sceptical about the special relationship. I’ve only ever heard that phrase being used by British politicians and media, although I’m willing to be corrected on that. It appears to me that we’ve always adopted a position of subservience to the US.
Having worked a bit in the US, I also disagree that we are more like Americans than anyone else. Culturally, we are quite different, and I think that we have more in common with our close European neighbours. I know that it’s a bit of a cliché, but the average American is really quite parochial and ignorant of the rest of the world.
Bionicpants
More predictable partners
I wish that I thought that there was a special relationship, but recent events have made that no longer credible. The Trump presidency will continue until 2028, and longer if he is able to fool the American people into rewriting the constitution – we have no idea what will come after – and even a change of party in power can’t remove the possibility of a return to isolationist unpredictability when the Presidency next changes.
So, I think it’s over, and we need to seek more predictable partners elsewhere in the world.
DeMeza
What special relationship?
What special relationship? To me, it seems to be a one-way relationship with the bigger partner benefitting exclusively at the expense of the smaller. Take off the blindfolds and earmuffs and wake up to reality.
Christopher
Nothing special about sharing a language
Both the UK and the US are divided into English and American languages, as are Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
There is nothing special about sharing a language, especially for America. It is also worth considering that the American language has constantly shifted in spelling and meaning, and in creating American grammar.
Plonk
No special relationship in trade
We have never truly had a so-called special relationship with America when it comes to trade.
Under Trump, the situation will get worse... his tariffs have wiped trillions of pounds off the world markets, and I guarantee that Trump's companies, and those owned by his billionaire buddies (such as Musk), will have made a shed load of money by effectively insider trading due to their knowledge in advance of Trump’s tariffs plan — which changes every five minutes.
Trump has already said that the USA, China and Russia should have control of world markets, as they are the biggest economies — funny how his politics mirror communism and dictatorship.
WIGAN72
A broken relationship
The pressure to maintain this so-called "relationship" arose from our wish to retain a commercial advantage which would be of benefit to the UK. Now, a broken relationship at the behest of a rogue president, we are faced with a vacuum from which the US is avowed to seek an advantageous position over all its trading partners.
omgogmog
Vassal State
It's an abusive one-way relationship. America buys up all our assets and innovative businesses and then charges us for the privilege of using them... Then proceeds to insult and belittle us. Like Angus Hanton says, we are a Vassal State.
theculture3
Never existed
It never existed. It was always a myth designed to lead Britain by the nose to bend to America's will whilst we continued paying dearly for the privilege. They sat out WW1 until 1917 , then only saw action in 1918. They turned up, predictably, for the sharing out of reparations.
Next time round, they stayed home trading with both sides, even using nefarious deals to disguise their efforts using neutral nations as channels by which to supply Germany/Hitler. They didn't get their boots muddy and their knees dirty until 1942, and then Churchill cornered them into declaring against Germany.
After WW2, they tried to drag us into every profiteering land and asset-grab they went into as they sought to preserve their own assets/resources and exploited the hell out of anybody else's. That always featured oil as a main target.
We need to be telling Trump that all bets are off- that, in future, he will be paying huge rents for any bases in the UK, that, he will be agreeing to the end of treaties that enable US criminals to be shipped home/escape prosecution if they are military/state personnel.
We managed to pay off their war loans, now it is time to actually make European bonds that will enable us economically to make the USA recognise they really are not the commercial or military super-power, be all and end all, their lazy, fatuous mythology paints them as.
PaganPilgrim3
Comedy gold
The special relationship is like comedy gold, the only time the US uses it is when they want support in one of their wars that they keep stumbling into like a drunk in a china shop.
In a way, the UK relives its days of empire and glory of ruling the world through the US (which itself is a dying empire). Sadly, we needed to be part of a strong European project to deal with world issues, but that's dodo for us, and Europeans seem confused, relying on the US too much.
Bparker2
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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