Tuesday, June 6, 2017

London Mayor Sadiq Khan hits back at US President Donald Trump in terror attacks row


London Mayor Sadiq Khan has hit back at US President Donald Trump as a row over Khan's attitude towards recent UK terror attacks escalates.

Over the weekend, the London Mayor's team accused the President of taking Mr Khan's comments about Londoners having "no reason to be alarmed" about police presence on the city's streets...out of context.

But on Monday, President Trump doubled down on his controversial comments with another tweet.

Our US correspondent Giles Gibson sent this report:


Script

Speaking to the UK's Channel 4 News on Monday...Mr Khan said he is too busy to respond to President Trump:

Byte Sadiq Khan

"Look, since Saturday I've been working with the police, with the emergency services and with the government and others to deal with the horrific attack on Saturday. I just haven't got the time to respond to tweets from Donald Trump."

But Mr Khan's team say the US President took his comments about recent UK terror attacks out of context.

On Monday, President Trump tweeted that Mr Khan had given a quotes "pathetic excuse" to explain his comment about Londoners "having no reason to be alarmed."

The London Mayor's office say that statement simply referred to the visible increase in police presence on London's streets...not recent terror attacks.

Meanwhile in a briefing in Washington on Monday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied the President was trying to pick a fight:

Byte Sarah Huckabee Sanders

"When the President talked about how we have to be more committed to national security, one of the reasons we have the travel ban here through that Executive Order, is a focus on national security. That was the point he was trying to make."

And although he says he doesn't have time to respond...Mr Khan had this to say about President Trump's controversial invitation for a future UK state visit:

Byte Sadiq Khan

"My position remains the same. I don't think we should be rolling out the red carpet to the President of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for."

So just a few short months after UK Prime Minister Theresa May reaffirmed the special relationship during her visit to the White House,

And in the wake of the UK's decision to temporarily halt intelligence sharing with the US during the Manchester suicide bombing investigation,

UK-US relations are showing further signs of strain.

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