Keir Starmer denies he was too left-wing to get on with Donald Trump – as his Government faces more embarrassment over Labour MPs’ controversial comments about the US president-elect_Nhy
Sir Keir Starmer last night denied he was too left-wing to get on with Donald Trump as the Government faced more embarrassment over Labour MPs’ previous comments about the returning President.
The Prime Minister insisted they had a positive phone call after this week’s election and that the special relationship between the UK and US is more important than ever.
He was asked by reporters at the European Political Community summit in Hungary yesterday about claims that Mr Trump had privately described him as ‘very left-wing’, suggesting relations between the administrations would be strained.
Sir Keir replied: ‘I had a very good meeting with President Elect Trump a few weeks ago when we had dinner in New York. It was very positive and constructive, as was the phone call we had last night.
‘As I’ve said many, many times, the special relationship was forged in very difficult circumstances historically. In our joint view, it’s more important today than it’s ever been.’
Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) last night denied he was too left-wing to get on with Donald Trump
The Prime Minister insisted he and Donald Trump (pictured) had a positive phone call after this week’s election
In another attempt to build bridges, his deputy Angela Rayner spoke to incoming Vice President JD Vance – after it emerged she once described Mr Trump as an ‘absolute buffoon’ who has ‘no place in the White House‘.
Newly unearthed footage shows that during the pandemic, she told ITV: ‘He’s an absolute buffoon. He has no place in the White House. He’s an embarrassment and he should be ashamed of himself, especially when thousands of Americans have died.’
Last night Ms Rayner wrote on Twitter/X: ‘Good to speak to US Vice President-elect JD Vance as UK Deputy Prime Minister. We spoke about our plans for the future and how, working together, we build on the special relationship between our great countries.’
Earlier a Cabinet minister repeatedly refused to say if he thought Mr Trump had Nazi sympathies.
Pat McFadden dodged the question three times and insisted that insults levelled at Mr Trump by senior Labour figures would not derail the special relationship between the UK and the US.
A number of Labour MPs now in Government hurled insults at Mr Trump during his first term in office, including David Lammy – now Foreign Secretary – who once wrote online: ‘He is a racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser.’
Yesterday, Cabinet Office minister Mr McFadden was reminded of his colleague’s remarks and asked how it would affect the relationship between the UK and US but claimed: ‘I think we’ll get on well actually.’
He denied that Mr Trump would bear a grudge against Mr Lammy, telling LBC that even some of his closest allies such as running mate JD Vance and tech tycoon Elon Musk had been highly critical of him in the past.
A number of Labour MPs now in Government hurled insults at Mr Trump during his first term in office, including David Lammy (pictured) – now Foreign Secretary
The Prime Minister said that the special relationship between the UK and US is more important than ever
‘He is capable of looking past these things. And I think there’s a bigger point that we can miss in reading this these things out, which is that the alliance and the friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom is really deep and enduring.’
Asked if he thought Mr Trump has KKK sympathies or Nazi sympathies, the minister refused to answer directly.
He said instead: ‘What I think is important is this friendship between the two countries. I congratulate him on his win and we look forward to working with him.’
In a separate interview with GB News he said the ‘friendship and the alliance between the United States and the UK is really deep and long-lasting’ and is ‘far more important than tweets on either side of the pond’.
