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Labour’s Emily Thornberry brands Donald Trump a ‘racist’ who does not understand trade deals | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Labour’s Emily Thornberry has branded Donald Trump a “racist” and compared his presidency to “an asteroid of awfulness” that has befallen the world. | |
The shadow foreign secretary said it was wrong for Theresa May to offer the US president a state visit and said Londoners and the rest of Britain were repelled by his views. | The shadow foreign secretary said it was wrong for Theresa May to offer the US president a state visit and said Londoners and the rest of Britain were repelled by his views. |
It comes after Mr Trump confirmed he would not open the new US embassy next month, blaming the Obama administration’s decision to move it to an “off location” in a “bad deal”. | |
Ms Thornberry said it was clear that Mr Trump “doesn’t have a real grasp” on how trade deals work, when he said it would be easy to do a deal with the UK within weeks. | |
The Labour frontbencher was also scathing about the US president following reports he had branded Haiti and some African states “shithole” countries. | |
She told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “He is an asteroid of awfulness that has fallen on this world. I think that he is a danger and I think that he is a racist.” | |
After Mr Trump cancelled a visit to open the new US embassy next month, Ms Thornberry said: “What kind of visit did he think he was going to get? Did he think he was going to visit in a gold coach? | |
“Well, you know, Londoners are not terribly impressed with him. Surprise, surprise, and neither, frankly, are the British.” | |
The Labour frontbencher added: “I don’t want him to come to the country. I don’t think that he should have been given an invitation in the way that he was. That it was wrong for Theresa May to so prematurely offer him a state visit. | |
“I think that it embarrasses the Queen. I think that it is a humiliation for her. I think it is wrong to have brought her into this in this way.” | |
Any visit from Mr Trump would bring about “major demonstrations” and the Government should advise Washington over the security considerations, she said. | |
Ms Thornberry said: “He did at one stage say he didn’t want to come to Britain until the British had learned to love him and I was quite relaxed about that.” | |
Pressed on whether the “special relationship” had been damaged by the growing row, Ms Thornberry said a trade deal after Brexit could still happen without him. | |
She said: “He said that he wanted to do a trade deal with Britain and he thought that he could do that in weeks. That shows that he doesn’t have a real grasp of what a trade agreement actually is. These things take years. | |
“Secondly it won’t be for him to be making a trade deal. There are many people in the United States – we are not in a medieval court.” | |
Downing Street maintains that Mr Trump has been offered a state visit and it cannot be taken back, except by the Queen. | |
Brandon Lewis, the newly appointed Tory chairman, said it was right for the US president to have a welcome in Britain. | |
He said: “We have a very strong, longstanding, hugely important relationship with the United States, which goes beyond any individual one of us.” |