Only a minority of Brits think the US sees the UK as its closest ally. And with president Donald Trump’s regular attacks on the UK’s admittedly pitiful government, it is easy to see why. It is high time we reformed the so-called ‘special relationship’ — and removing US bases could be a major step.

There are currently around 10,000 American troops based in Britain across 13 US-controlled bases.

A YouGov poll on 29 April found:

Only 22% of Britons think the US government still sees the UK as its closest national ally.

Only 22% of Britons think the US government still sees the UK as its closest national ally, with leaks revealing that the British ambassador has said that Israel is probably the only country with a “special relationship” with the US

Link in replies pic.twitter.com/xPU38qAPms

— YouGov (@YouGov) April 29, 2026

As YouGov pointed out, the finding comes after:

leaks revealing that the British ambassador has said that Israel is probably the only country with a “special relationship” with the US.

Now it’s harder to know if those polled are sad or happy about this shift, but there’s definitely a wide recognition that the US-UK relationship has changed a lot lately. And it might be an opportunity to fight back against a political establishment which follows the US around like a poodle.

The ‘Yanks out’ cohort

There is definitely a constituency for removing bases. And it has only been handed more ammunition by Keir Starmer’s decision to drag the UK into the Israel-American attack on Iran. Defence secretary John Healey described the bases as “invaluable” to the US war effort on 11 April.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn — a longtime critic of US basing — tabled a motion against the bases on 4 March. It argued for more oversight by MPs.

The (very wordy) title was:

Bill to require parliamentary approval for the deployment of UK armed forces and military equipment for armed conflict; to require parliamentary approval for the granting of permission by Ministers for use of UK military bases and equipment by other nations for armed conflict; to require the withdrawal of that permission in circumstances where parliamentary approval is not granted; to provide for certain exemptions from these requirements; to make provision for retrospective parliamentary approval in certain circumstances; and for connected purposes.

But as with many things, the space once dominated by Corbyn has been hijacked by Green leader Zack Polanski…

Polanski wants the US bases out

Polanski told the Guardian podcast on 20 January at a time when the US is becoming increasingly aggressive. Donald Trump had already kidnapped Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro that month and was threatening to annex Greenland.

The Green leader said the UK’s security should not be subject to Trump’s mood:

I think it’s pretty worrying that we’ve allowed ourselves to become so reliant on American interests, and that a lot of this depends on if Donald Trump is in a good mood or not.

He called for a full review into US military presence on UK soil:

We should be reviewing US bases on UK soil, and actually looking at a genuine strategic defence review.

Your Party MP Zarah Sultana also said US bases should be “kicked out” on 1 March in response to the unprovoked attack on Iran:

Kick them out. https://t.co/nlBqs3YyUo

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) March 1, 2026

Sultana also laid out her position on the (for now) US-dominated NATO alliance in October 2025:

NATO isn’t about “peace” or “security”. It’s an imperialist war machine. Just look at Afghanistan and Libya.

Arms dealers profit while our NHS collapses, public services crumble and millions of children grow up in poverty.

We must withdraw from NATO immediately.

People don’t…

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) October 28, 2025

The UK public have abandoned the idea the US sees the UK as a close ally, though politics of why aren’t clear. Nevertheless, figures like Sultana, Corbyn and Polanski should use this window to offer a different vision. And it’s well past time someone told voters what a post-American Britain would look like.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

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