Sir Keir Starmer is likely to have his work cut out building bridges with Donald Trump, going by the newly elected US President’s son’s damning verdict on the Labour Party.
The brief clip, shared by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and ITV presenter Paul Brand, shows ITV News US correspondent Dan Rivers questioning Donald Trump Jr during a rally last week.
Referring to complaints by the Trump campaign about Labour Party staffers volunteering for Democrat rival Kamala Harris, Mr Rivers asked: “The British Labour Party has been accused of interfering in this election: has that damaged the special relationship?”
Mr Trump Jr replies: “It’s certainly not a great start, because it’s clear what they’re doing and it’s absolutely lunacy what I say with going on in the UK right now when they’re jailing people for misgendering someone.
“I mean, it’s honestly disgusting and they should be ashamed of themselves.”
Hate crimes can be prosecuted for any crime where the offender has demonstrated hostility based on transgender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or race.
Sir Keir Starmer yesterday spoke to Mr Trump to offered “hearty congratulations” in their first conversation since the president-elect’s election win.
The Prime Minister is seeking to secure close ties with Mr Trump amid tensions over Labour activists campaigning for his rival and past comments Cabinet ministers have made about him.
Sir Keir congratulated Mr Trump on his “historic victory” after US voters returned him to the White House, Downing Street said.
“The Prime Minister offered his hearty congratulations and said he looked forward to working closely with President-elect Trump across all areas of the special relationship.”
The leaders agreed that the US-UK relationship, from defence and security to growth and prosperity, was “incredibly strong” and “would continue to thrive for many years to come”, No 10 said.
The spokesman added: “The leaders fondly recalled their meeting in September and President-elect Trump’s close connections and affinity to the United Kingdom, and looked forward to working with one another.”
Sir Keir and Foreign Secretary David Lammy had dinner with Mr Trump at Trump Tower in New York several weeks ago.
However, Since then, the Republican’s campaign filed a legal complaint about Labour activists backing Ms Harris.
Asked if the Prime Minister discussed Ukraine in his call with president elect Trump, Cabinet Office minister McFadden told Sky News: “I’m not sure. To be honest, I think it was more a ‘congratulations on your win’ call.
“We’ve just been through a election campaign a few months ago here.
“So we know how stressful these things can be. There’s always a relief if you get to the end of it.”
