Nigel Farage says his 'great relationship' with Trump could make him 'useful as an interlocutor' with Labour
9 November 2024, 15:26
Nigel Farage has claimed he could be "useful as an interlocutor" between the Labour Government and Donald Trump following the Republican's US election victory.
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The Reform UK leader said he has "got a great relationship" with the President-elect and also knows people he believes will be in Mr Trump's administration for "quite a long time".
Speaking at a Reform UK event in Exeter, Mr Farage described Mr Trump as a "pro-British American president" who gives the UK "potentially huge opportunities if we can overcome the difficulties that the whole of the Cabinet have been rude about him".
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Government will be keen to build bridges with Mr Trump ahead of him returning to the White House.
Mr Farage told PA: "I've got a great relationship with Donald Trump but equally I know many of the other senior figures who will be in this administration and I've known them for quite a long time.
The offer follows a row over Labour activists campaigning for Kamala Harris, in addition to controversial comments previously made by Foreign Secretary David Lammy while in shadow government.
"It seems to me that with a Labour Party and a Republican Party who disagree on so many things - who are such fundamentally different people - that I might be useful as an interlocutor.
"Unofficially, behind the scenes, to try and help mend some of those fences.
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"If the Government choose to use me, I would do that not because I support the Labour Government but because I believe in something called the national interest."
On Friday, Mr Farage said the UK should "roll out the red carpet" for Mr Trump.
He said: "Whether you like Trump or not, this is the important point that in terms of intelligence sharing, in terms of defence, in terms of investment, in terms of trade, America is our most important relationship."
It comes as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden deflected three direct questions regarding Donald Trump’s alleged sympathies with extremist ideologies.
Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, when pressed on whether he believed Trump harboured sympathies for the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazis, McFadden sidestepped the question.
Instead, he emphasised the importance of the UK-US relationship.
“I think the relationship between Britain and America is really important and I’m confident,” McFadden said, but failed to explicitly deny or confirm any extremist affiliations.
