Starmer offers 'hearty congratulations' to Trump, but faces pressure over Lammy's past criticisms of president
6 November 2024, 23:20
Keir Starmer has offered his "hearty congratulations" to Donald Trump after his victory in the presidential election, but may soon face a diplomatic row over past comments made by David Lammy.
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Starmer and Trump spoke on the phone on Wednesday after the US election went the Republican's way, with the Prime Minister highlighting the close ties between the two countries.
But relations may be strained by previous comments by Foreign Secretary David Lammy in which he called president-elect Trump a "sociopath".
New Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called on Starmer to apologise for the comments on Wednesday.
The issue does not appear to have arisen in the first conversation between the two national leaders.
Read more: Keir Starmer under pressure to apologise for David Lammy calling Trump a 'sociopath'
Giving a summary of the call on Wednesday evening, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister spoke to president-elect Donald Trump this evening to congratulate him on his historic victory.
"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.
"From defence and security to growth and prosperity, the relationship between the UK and US was incredibly strong and would continue to thrive for many years to come, the leaders agreed.
"The Prime Minister also reflected on the situation in the Middle East and underscored the importance of regional stability.
"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."
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions earlier, Badenoch called for Trump to be invited to address Parliament, saying it would show Labour is beyond “student politics.”
Starmer said Ms Badenoch was “showing a masterclass in student politics” and that the Government would work closely with the Trump administration.
A Labour MP shouted "resign" as Ms Badenoch stood at the despatch box for her first PMQs as Conservative leader.
Ms Badenoch said: "Can I thank the Prime Minister for his almost warm welcome, and can I also echo the comments that he has made: it is an immense privilege and the honour of my life to lead the Conservative Party."
She added: "As leader of His Majesty's Opposition I will be taking a different approach to the last opposition by being a constructive opposition.
Foreign Secretary's past comments about Trump are 'not diplomatic'
"And so I would like to start by congratulating President-elect Trump on his impressive victory this morning.
"The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary met him in September. Did the Foreign Secretary take that opportunity to apologise for making derogatory and scatological references, including, and I quote, 'Trump is not only a woman-hating Neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath, he is also a profound threat to the international order', and if he did not apologise, will the Prime Minister do so now on his behalf?"
Starmer replied: "There will be many issues on which the leader of the Opposition and I disagree, but there will be issues that do unite this House on national security and Ukraine."
He added: "The Foreign Secretary and I did meet President-elect Trump just a few weeks ago for dinner for about a couple of hours, and we discussed a number of issues of global significance. It was a very constructive exercise."
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Lammy's comments may not be the only issue that affects relations between Trump and Labour.
Reports emerged in the UK media last month that the president was plotting "all out war" against Labour.
His campaign complained about the "far-left" Labour Party after aides travelled to the US to campaign for Ms Harris, and senior officials met with her team.
But Mr Trump's former director of communications Anthony Scaramucci told LBC that the spat would have "absolutely no impact" on US-UK relations.
