LABOUR ‘THREAT TO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP’
Corbyn and his MPs pilloried for joining Trump protest march
THE Labour Party was accused of putting the transAtlantic ‘special relationship’ at risk last night as Donald Trump warned America could stop sharing intelligence if Jeremy Corbyn became prime minister.
A raft of senior Labour MPs are preparing to join as many as 250,000 anti-Trump protesters in a mass demonstration in London tomorrow aimed at overshadowing the US President’s three-day state visit.
It came as Mr Trump issued a chilling warning that America could stop sharing vital intelligence with Britain if Mr Corbyn was in charge. He said the Labour leader was ‘making a mistake’ by failing to make America a friend because of the country’s close cooperation with Britain on military and intelligence matters.
Mr Trump added: ‘We are very, very good for the UK if you look at what we do for the UK in terms of many things, including – obviously – the military, intelligence as well... I would think that somebody in that position would want to and have to get along with the United States.’
Labour shadow ministers Emily Thornberry, Dawn Butler and Diane Abbott are all expected to demonstrate, helping to whip up protesters marching from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square.
Mr Corbyn, meanwhile, has refused to attend tonight’s banquet at Buckingham Place, and accused Mr Trump of ‘an entirely unacceptable interference in our democracy’.
And yesterday, London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan compared the language used by Mr Trump to that of ‘fascists of the 20th century’. Mr Khan’s administration has sanctioned the use of a 20ft blimp depicting Mr Trump as a nappy-wearing baby during this week’s demonstrations.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said last night that Labour’s ‘disgraceful anti-Americanism’ threatened to ‘harm the national interest by throwing away our relationship with our closest ally’. A string of other Tory MPs also warned that Labour’s attitude was ‘putting the special relationship at risk’ and it was important to remember that America was Britain’s ‘closest and most important friend’ in the world.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Miss Thornberry said on Twitter she was attending the rally, accusing Mr Trump of being a ‘racist and a sexual predator’. She said the US President ‘is destroying all the values that have always united Britain and America’.
Tory MP Andrew Rosindell said: ‘This is a serious misjudgment by the opposition. The US is our closest and most important friend.
‘This is very likely to damage our relationship at a time when we need to deepen our relationship with America.
‘Labour is putting politics before the interests of the country.’
Fellow Tory MP Andrew Percy said: ‘It is incredible that a Labour leader who invites murdering terrorist groups into Parliament and calls them his friends apparently has a problem with the democratically elected head of one of our closest and most important allies.’
Tory MP Jacob Rees- Mogg added: ‘ Encouraging student union-style attacks on Mr Trump makes the mayor of London appear juvenile and is neither wise nor statesmanlike.’
Mr Khan has said it would be ‘inappropriate’ for him to attend the protest himself but has publicly condoned those marching against the US President.
Theresa May said last night she was looking ‘forward to welcoming President Trump to the UK and to building on the strong and enduring ties between our countries’.
More than 20,000 police officers will be deployed at 20 demonstrations during Mr Trump’s three-day visit, at a cost of £18 million.