May rebukes Trump for retweeting far-right posts, but UK visit still on

DONALD Trump was wrong to retweet videos produced by the “hateful” Britain First organisation, Prime Minister Theresa May has said.

But Mrs May (right, below) indicated that she is not withdrawing her invitation for the US President to come to the UK on a state visit despite widespread calls for the trip to be cancelled.

Mr Trump (right) sparked outrage in the UK by retweeting three videos from the far-right group purportedly showing violent acts by Muslims.

In response to a statement from Downing Street describing his actions as “wrong”, the Pres- ident issued a late-night tweet directed personally at the Prime Minister, saying: “@Theresa_May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”

In her first personal response to the furore at a Press conference during a visit to Jordan, Mrs May said that the UK and US worked closely together in the fight against terrorism.

And she added: “The fact that we work together does not mean that we are afraid to say when we think that the United States have got it wrong and to be very clear with them. I am very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do.”

Mrs May’s rebuke to the President won applause from her Jordanian audience.

Asked whether she regarded Mr Trump as a fit person to be hosted by the Queen on a state visit, the Prime Minister said only: “An invitation for a state visit has been extended and has been accepted. We have yet to set a date.”

She said: “Britain First is a hateful organisation. It seeks to spread division and mistrust among our communities. It stands in fundamental opposition to the values we share as a nation — values of respect, tolerance and common decency.

“On the issue of radical Islamism, British Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding and have themselves been victims of acts of terror by the far-right. There are those who conduct acts of terror in the name of Islam, but it is not in the name of Islam.

“As Prime Minister, I am very clear about the priority that I give to dealing with the challenge of the threat of terrorism ... and extremism from whatever source they come.”

Asked whether she regarded the US President as a “supporter and enabler of far-right groups”, Mrs May said: “We must all take seriously the threat that far-right groups pose both in terms of the terrorist threat that is posed by those groups and the necessity of dealing with extremist material which is far-right as well.

“I’ve commented in the past on issues in the United States on this matter. In the United Kingdom we take the far-right very seriously and that’s why we ensure we deal with these threats and this extremism wherever it comes and whatever its source.”

But she made clear that she wanted to maintain the UK’s close relations with the US, regardless of Mr Trump’s actions.