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Britain doesn't need Nigel Farage's help with Trump, says top Tory Britain doesn't need Nigel Farage's help with Trump, says top Tory
(about 2 hours later)
A senior Conservative MP has said the government still has no need for Nigel Farage’s assistance with dealing with Donald Trump, despite the interim Ukip leader becoming the first British politician to meet the president-elect on Saturday. Donald Trump’s team raised concerns with Ukip’s Nigel Farage about the hostile comments made about his presidential campaign by members of the British government, a party source has suggested.
Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the influential foreign affairs select committee, told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: “There is fantastic opportunity for a relationship between Britain and the United States – there’s no need for Nigel.” Farage, who met the US president-elect at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Saturday night, told the Telegraph Theresa May’s government needed to “mend some fences” with his team. “Some of his team had reservations about what members of the cabinet have said during the election,” Farage said. “Believe you me, his team are conscious of the comments.”
Blunt rebuffed any suggestion that the UK was lower down the list of priorities for the Republican when he takes office. “The prime minister has been very reserved and wise in having been guarded in her comments about Donald Trump right from the beginning, unlike many,” he said. A Ukip source alleged that there was a perception in Trump’s team that British politicians and diplomats had not taken the possibility of a Trump win seriously. “Why do you think it is that Farage is the first international politician to meet Trump? Because he took him seriously,” the source said.
The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has previously joked he would avoid travelling to parts of New York because of the “real risk of bumping into Donald Trump”. “There was a feeling of contempt and this is the result. They obviously were not cultivating the relationship and the proof is in the pudding of the meeting.”
“Our foreign secretary is so wonderfully charming and entertaining, he can get away with the row-back,” Blunt said. A senior former cabinet minister said Farage’s help should not be dismissed out of hand. “He is probably the most successful, non-machine party politician the country has seen in a long while,” they said. “Frankly, given what the political establishment have said about Trump, any help Nigel Farage is able to give Great Britain with the incoming administration should be welcomed. But the normal machinery of government and diplomacy clearly now kicks in.”
Farage and Trump spent an hour on Saturday night discussing the US election victory, global politics, and the status of Brexit, according to Ukip. A Downing Street source said Farage’s activities in the US were an irrelevance to the British government. “He has no role whatsoever. We won’t be talking to him,” the source said. As home secretary, Theresa May called Trump’s campaign pledge to ban Muslims from the US “divisive, unhelpful and wrong”, although the prime minister has taken pains not to criticise the Republican since she entered No 10.
The meeting between Trump and Farage is likely to cause concern in Downing Street, following reports that the “special relationship” between the US and UK could be more difficult to maintain under the new president. Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, was only the 11th world leader called by Trump after his victory on Tuesday. Others have expressed disquiet since Trump took the nomination. The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has previously joked he would avoid travelling to parts of New York because of the “real risk of bumping into Donald Trump”.
Traditionally, one of the first acts of the newly elected president of the US is to call Downing Street to ensure the continued strength of the two nations’ special relationship. However, Trump spoke to the leaders of Ireland, Mexico, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, India, Japan, Australia and South Korea before calling May. The prime minister’s two joint chiefs of staff had also criticised Trump on social media before taking up their current posts. Fiona Hill posted last December: “Donald Trump is a chump” while her colleague Nick Timothy wrote in March: “American politics was depressing enough before Trump took off.”
Farage has also suggested that “insulting” comments senior Tories made about Trump may have been the reason for May coming so low down on the president-elect’s list of foreign leaders to call. In contrast to the Ukip’s leader’s comments, a memo leaked to the Sunday Times from the British ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, appeared to suggest the UK was well placed to influence the new president’s foreign policy, describing Trump as “open to outside influence”.
The prime minister’s two joint chiefs of staff had criticised Trump on social media before taking up their current posts. Fiona Hill posted last December: “Donald Trump is a chump,” while her colleague Nick Timothy wrote in March: “American politics was depressing enough before Trump took off.” Tory MP Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the influential foreign affairs select committee, rebuffed any suggestion that the UK was lower down Trump’s list of priorities when he takes office because of comments made by the prime minister and senior cabinet ministers.
He told the BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: “There is fantastic opportunity for a relationship between Britain and the United States – there’s no need for Nigel.The prime minister has been very reserved and wise in having been guarded in her comments about Donald Trump right from the beginning, unlike many,” he said.
“Our foreign secretary is so wonderfully charming and entertaining, he can get away with the row-back.”
Farage and Trump spent an hour on Saturday night discussing the US election victory, global politics, and the status of Brexit, according to Ukip.
A Downing Street source said Farage’s activities in the US were an irrelevance to the British government. The source said: “We are not using Nigel Farage as a go-between for the very simple reason that he does not represent the government. He is an opposition politician. We have an active and very good relationship with the Republicans which professionals have been cultivating and preparing for some time.”
May was only the 11th world leader called by Trump after his victory on Tuesday. Traditionally, one of the first acts of the newly elected president of the US is to call Downing Street to ensure the continued strength of the two nations’ special relationship. However, Trump spoke to the leaders of Ireland, Mexico, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, India, Japan, Australia and South Korea before calling May.
Ukip said that during the meeting Farage stressed the importance of Britain’s relationship with the US and asked the president-elect to return the bust of Sir Winston Churchill to the Oval Office, an idea over which Trump expressed excitement.Ukip said that during the meeting Farage stressed the importance of Britain’s relationship with the US and asked the president-elect to return the bust of Sir Winston Churchill to the Oval Office, an idea over which Trump expressed excitement.
Speaking after the meeting, Farage said: “It was a great honour to spend time with Donald Trump. He was relaxed and full of good ideas. I’m confident he will be a good president. His support for the US-UK relationship is very strong. This is a man with whom we can do business.Speaking after the meeting, Farage said: “It was a great honour to spend time with Donald Trump. He was relaxed and full of good ideas. I’m confident he will be a good president. His support for the US-UK relationship is very strong. This is a man with whom we can do business.
“I was especially pleased with his very positive reaction to the idea that Sir Winston Churchill’s bust should be put back in the Oval Office.”“I was especially pleased with his very positive reaction to the idea that Sir Winston Churchill’s bust should be put back in the Oval Office.”
On Saturday evening, Farage sent a tweet that was accompanied by a picture of the two men smiling broadly in front of a pair of gold doors at Trump Tower in Manhattan. He wrote:On Saturday evening, Farage sent a tweet that was accompanied by a picture of the two men smiling broadly in front of a pair of gold doors at Trump Tower in Manhattan. He wrote:
It was a great honour to spend time with @realDonaldTrump. He was relaxed and full of good ideas. I'm confident he will be a good President. pic.twitter.com/kx8cGRHYPQIt was a great honour to spend time with @realDonaldTrump. He was relaxed and full of good ideas. I'm confident he will be a good President. pic.twitter.com/kx8cGRHYPQ
Especially pleased at @realDonaldTrump's very positive reaction to idea that Sir Winston Churchill's bust should be put back in Oval Office.Especially pleased at @realDonaldTrump's very positive reaction to idea that Sir Winston Churchill's bust should be put back in Oval Office.
Farage’s meeting with the president-elect came after a Fox News interview during which the Ukip interim leader called on Theresa May to “mend fences” with Trump.
Farage said May’s team had been “quite rude” about the president-elect, but that Trump had “got to meet her”.
“Trump is an anglophile,” he said. “He understands and recognises what our two great nations have done together, between us, and thank goodness we’re coming to the end of an American president who loathed us.”
Ukip leadership contender Suzanne Evans, who has not been endorsed by Farage, said she thought it was a “good look for Ukip” that Farage was representing Britain to the new president-elect. “That’s a British politician, out there shaking Trump’s hand and I’m looking forward to a very good cosy relationship.”Ukip leadership contender Suzanne Evans, who has not been endorsed by Farage, said she thought it was a “good look for Ukip” that Farage was representing Britain to the new president-elect. “That’s a British politician, out there shaking Trump’s hand and I’m looking forward to a very good cosy relationship.”
A poll released on Sunday shows only 15% of Britons think Trump will make a good president while 66% believe he will make the world a more dangerous place.A poll released on Sunday shows only 15% of Britons think Trump will make a good president while 66% believe he will make the world a more dangerous place.
The ComRes survey for the Sunday Mirror and the Independent reveals that just over half of voters believe Trump will do a bad job as president while 40% believe his occupancy of the White House will be bad news for UK-US relations.The ComRes survey for the Sunday Mirror and the Independent reveals that just over half of voters believe Trump will do a bad job as president while 40% believe his occupancy of the White House will be bad news for UK-US relations.