Donald Trump will receive a 'warm welcome' in Scotland when US President flies in to Prestwick
Donald Trump will receive a "warm welcome" from the UK Government when he jets in to Scotland, Ian Murray has said.
The Scottish Secretary is expected to formally welcome the US President when he steps off Air Force One at Prestwick Airport tomorrow night. The Republican leader will then head from the airport to spend time at his luxury Turnberry Hotel and golf resort, which is 35 miles further south.
Trump is expected to meet Keir Starmer in South Ayrshire in the coming days before they then both travel to Aberdeenshire, where the President will formally open a new golf course at his Menie Estate.
Murray said today the UK will extend a "warm welcome" to the president, given the historic ties between the two countries. "Of course it's a warm welcome,' he said. "We would always have a warm welcome for the president of the United States.
"The office of the president of the United States and the office of the Prime Minister are ones that work very, very closely together, and should do, because it's in our national interest to do so.
'We should make sure those relationships are in place because it's important for our defence, our security, our economy – especially for jobs – and it's really, really important to the finer details of the US trade deal that's been done.'
Murray's comments come despite a 2019 motion in the House of Commons which he backed – along with Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Health Secretary Wes Streeting – while in opposition which accused the president of 'misogynism, racism and xenophobia'.
Pressed on his support for the motion, Murray did not answer, instead focusing on the importance of the relationship between the two countries.
Murray said the Scottish Secretary has a 'duty' to welcome foreign dignitaries.
Protests are expected in parts of Scotland during the visit, with police expected to be stretched and requests for extra officers being issued to other forces in the UK.
The Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said policing will be 'seriously affected'.
Scots Tory MP Andrew Bowie accused Murray of a U-turn over Trump. He said: "Ian Murray's desperate squirming was the definition of a car-crash interview. He had no credible explanation for his complete U-turn on the importance of President Trump visiting this country.
"So let me help him: in 2019 he was shamelessly playing to the gallery like a student politician, whereas today he is a government minister forced to get real and behave like a grown-up.
"I'm glad that Ian Murray has belatedly recognised how vital it is for Scotland to welcome, and work constructively with, the US President – but he'd have more credibility if he put his hands up and owned his past juvenile opportunism."
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