The longest serving MP in Reading was among a group of other MPs who have recently visited Denmark amid a clash with President Donald Trump over Greenland.
President Trump has made public statements expressing a desire to take over Greenland, the world’s largest island, located in the Arctic Circle.
Greenland has been a territory of Denmark since 1721, with the island being occupied by Danish settlers before then.
Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading Central, visited Denmark with other Labour MPs who met with the Danish government in Copenhagen.
Matt Rodda MP said: “It was important to listen to the Danish Government’s concerns about Greenland, when I visited Denmark as part of a delegation of MPs.
“The future of Greenland is a matter for the people of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.
“Denmark is a close ally of the United Kingdom and the United States, it is a proud member of NATO and it has stood shoulder to shoulder with us, including at real human cost in recent decades.
“Alliances endure because they are built on respect and partnership not pressure.
“That is why the use of tariffs against allies is completely wrong.”
Denmark was a founding member of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alongside the USA, the UK, and other European nations in 1949 as a counter to the Soviet Union.
President Trump had threatened Denmark with trade tariffs to exert pressure on its government to make a deal on Greenland, which were later dropped in an announcement yesterday (Wednesday, January 21).
