Downing Street rebukes US defence secretary over Nato allies' role in Afghanistan
Downing Street has publicly criticised US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth after he downplayed the role of non-American Nato allies during combat operations in Afghanistan. Number 10 called the comments wrong, stressing that 457 British personnel died during the conflict and that allied sacrifices spoke for themselves. The sharp rebuke highlights growing transatlantic frictions, as the UK government also moves to reinforce its commitment to Ukraine amid diverging foreign policy approaches in Washington towards Russia. Also in this briefing: Microsoft pulls out of flagship UK AI data centre over power costs and grid delays.
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Downing Street rejected Pete Hegseth's claim that NATO allies were an operational burden in Afghanistan.
Over eleven hundred non-US allied personnel died during the two-decade Afghanistan campaign.
Afghanistan remains the only time NATO invoked Article Five in its seventy-seven-year history.
Microsoft scrapped a multibillion-pound UK data centre deal over energy costs and grid delays.
Power queue times reaching up to thirteen years forced advisers to slash Nscale's planned valuation.
Britain is accelerating missile deliveries to Kyiv while Russian strikes target Ukraine's energy grid.
- 01Intro1 min
- 02Downing Street rebukes US defence secretary over Nato allies' role in Afghanistan: the clash over allied sacrifice2 min
- 03Downing Street rebukes US defence secretary over Nato allies' role in Afghanistan: strategic divergence and transatlantic fallout2 min
- 04Where things stand1 min
- 05Microsoft pulls out of flagship UK AI data centre over power costs and grid delays2 min
- 06Outro1 min
- Hegseth wrong to say most non-US Nato forces in Afghanistan did not fight, says No 10
- Uk rebukes hegseth afghanistan nato role
- Ally Publicly Shames Hegseth Over Insult to Troops
- No 10 hits back after Trump’s war secretary diminishes UK’s role in Afghanistan
- No 10: Hegseth ‘wrong’ to say most non-US Nato soldiers didn’t fight in Afghanistan – as it happened
- Pete Hegseth’s Afghanistan war comments spark backlash from veterans
- Pete Hegseth Blasted Over Attack On Nato's Contribution To Afghanistan | HuffPost UK Politics
- Hegseth ‘wrong to diminish role’ of UK and allies in Afghanistan, No 10 says | ITV News
- Hegseth ‘wrong to diminish’ British troops’ role in Afghanistan – No 10
- Microsoft Exits Nscale's UK Flagship as Grid Can't Supply Power Until 2030s: IPO at Risk
- Microsoft pulls out of AI datacentre project in Essex over power supply concerns
- Microsoft Walks Away From Nscale’s UK Data Center as the Grid Runs Out of Power
- Microsoft pulls out of UK Nscale data centre deal over power delay | live
- Microsoft pulls out of delayed Nscale data center in Loughton, Essex
- Microsoft's Nscale exit: A $3bn IPO meets a UK grid problem - Capacity
- Microsoft abandons UK AI supercomputer project over grid delays
- Microsoft exits UK’s largest AI data centre project over power supply concerns
- Microsoft pulled out of Nscale's U.K. data center deal ahead of IPO
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