A US analyst has called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack Foreign Secretary David Lammy over past comments about President-elect Donald Trump.
Director of The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom Nile Gardiner said Trump would see the Prime Minister as a “novice” when it comes to negotiating and a “woke lefty.”
Lammy posted on social media in 2017: “Yes, if Trump comes to the UK I will be out protesting on the streets. He is a racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser.”
One year later, the Tottenham MP wrote: “Trump is not only a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath…he is also a profound threat to the international order that has been the foundation of Western progress for so long.”
Now, Gardiner has claimed that firing Lammy from the cabinet would be the start of fixing the relationship between Starmer and Trump, however, he conceded that it may be politically difficult.
He told MailOnline: “The smartest thing would be to sack David Lammy and apologise for the intervention by Labour staffers. But I’m in no doubt that it will be practically impossible for Sir Keir to work with the Trump Presidency.”
Earlier this year, Lammy defended calling Trump “a neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath”, saying all politicians had something to say about him “back in the day.” He also said he had met Trump’s Vice-President JD Vance and that the two men had “common ground”.
Lammy said: “We’re both from poor backgrounds, both suffered from addiction issues in our family which we’ve written about… both of us [are] Christians. And now I’ve met [Vance] on a few occasions, and we have been able to find common ground and get on.”
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Labour comments about Donald Trump will not ‘interfere’ in the ‘important alliance’ between the UK and US, says McFadden
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden has said comments made by Labour Cabinet ministers about Donald Trump will not “interfere” in the “important alliance” between the UK and US.
He told Sky News: “I think a lot of things that have been said over the years, but not just here in the UK, including in the US. If you look at what Vice President Elect JD Vance said about President Trump, he mused whether this was going to be another Richard Nixon or America’s Hitler, and it’s not held him back from being the running mate.
“Elon Musk as well, advised Trump to walk off into the sunset a couple of years ago, and he’s become President Trump’s biggest, biggest backer in business. So I think a number of things have been said over the years, but the truth is, the alliance between Britain and the United States is long and deep and enduring.”
He added: “I don’t think any of these things will interfere in what is such an important alliance for the world, based on defence, security, shared values, shared history. It’s all more important than all of those things, and that is the footing we begin on, and that’s the footing that we’ll continue on.”
UK Government confirms nearly £1.4bn for local projects in Scotland
Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray MP
PA
The UK Government has said nearly £1.4billion will be spent on dozens of local growth projects in Scotland over the next 10 years. Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has written to all 32 local authorities to confirm the greenlit projects.
Murray announced £160million each for investment zones in Glasgow and the North East, £26million each for the Cromarty and Forth freeports, and £26million for the Fair Isle Ferry in Shetland.
Nearly £39million will be allocated for the Amids (Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland) South transport project in Renfrewshire while £15million will be spent on the regeneration of Drumchapel town centre in Glasgow, and £18million will be spent on the Elgin city masterplan.
Ten areas will receive £20million each as part of the long-term plan for towns programme.