Trump downplays call for Keir Starmer to recall parliament
Trump said he saw no reason why parliament should be recalled so he could follow President Macron and address both houses. 'I think let them go and have a good time,' he told the BBC.
President Macron spoke at the Palace of Westminster this month
ALASTAIR GRANT/GETTY IMAGES
His comments follow criticism of the government from Trump allies such as Nigel Farage . The Reform leader said on Monday: 'Why does Keir Starmer think that the French president is a better friend to this country than the American president? He's got it completely wrong. I believe parliament should be recalled and Trump should be given the opportunity to address both houses.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Issuing prison officers with Tasers won't make them safer
If you have read anything on the prison system over the past few years, you will have noticed a few common themes: overcrowding, understaffing, reoffending, crumbling infrastructure, and abject conditions. Our prisons are increasingly places of despair – full of drugs, drones, self-harm, violence and deaths. The recent annual report of the Chief Inspector of Prisons lay testament to the extent of the crisis gripping the prison system. And the government knows this. Its own research sets out that people living in overcrowded cells were 19 per cent more likely to be involved in assault incidents – and 67 out of the 121 adult male prisons in this country are overcrowded. In the context of rising violence across the prison estate, what is the government's solution? To recruit and train more prison officers? To address overcrowding by reducing capacity in particularly troubled jails and across the system? To invest in infrastructure? To increase education and training budgets to give prisoners access to the means to turn their lives around? No. While we wait for bolder action to fix the broken prison system, the government's response is to trumpet the fact that Tasers will now be used behind bars. The introduction of Tasers has been linked to horrific incidents involving attacks on staff at Frankland and Belmarsh – although it is far from clear that access to these weapons would have prevented either incident taking place. Staff in adult male prisons already have access to batons and PAVA spray, which we know undermine positive relationships between staff and those in their care. The escalating use of force brings with it a multitude of concerns. Inspection reports have consistently revealed inappropriate use of force, including against people threatening to self-harm; problems with lack of staff training; inadequate use of body-worn cameras; and disproportionate use of force against people from Black, Black/British, and Muslim backgrounds. While Tasers are being piloted in a limited manner – just the 'operational response and resilience unit' will be authorised to use them – the fear must be that this is the thin edge of the wedge. Indeed, speaking to journalists about Tasers, the secretary of state for justice, Shabana Mahmood, remarked: 'This is very much the beginning'. It seems that the rollout of further weapons in prisons has been foretold. And that would track; two months ago, the secretary of state approved of the use of PAVA spray – an otherwise illegal chemical incapacitant – in prisons holding children, despite evidence that it won't reduce violence and will be disproportionately used against Black and minority ethnic children, Muslim children and children with disabilities. Last week, the Howard League issued legal proceedings to challenge this decision. Almost every week, I visit prisons across the country and speak to people being held in and working in dreadful conditions. Many of this country's jails are filthy, overrun simultaneously with drones and rats. People eat – and go to the toilet – in cramped cells with poor ventilation. There are more than 22,000 people sharing a cell intended for a single person. Facilities have become dilapidated as the maintenance backlog has grown. Restricted regimes, often due to staff shortages, mean that people have little to do but stay locked in their cells. I speak to prison governors doing their very best to keep the people in their care safe, though they are often uncomfortable with the job they are doing, feeling powerless to attract the resources they need to run a better jail. They all want fewer people in their prison, higher staff confidence and capability, and more time to spend with prisoners to help turn their lives around. But there is no money for any of that. And so, prisoners are held in ghastly conditions, and when this leads to unrest and violence, the government is sanctioning yet more use of force against them. There is no question that the government is facing a crisis in its prisons. But this will not be solved with easy, reactionary policies. What is needed is political courage to explain the problems honestly to the public – as Keir Starmer started to do last July – and long-term investment in evidence-based policy that addresses the roots of the overcrowding and reoffending in our prison system. Violence will not be stemmed by more violence. The government must look at its own evidence and acknowledge that, rather than adding to the pressure in our overstretched jails, the best response to rising levels of violence is to reduce the prison population and offer productive and positive regimes for people in custody. We will be waiting until September for legislation to deliver changes proposed in David Gauke's sentencing review, which will hopefully ease some of this pressure. But otherwise, the government's plan seems to be to build more prisons, and weaponise them at pace. Which feels a long way from the promise of the prime minister's first press conference last July.
Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
US-Japan trade deal guarantees lowest tariff rates for chips, pharma, Japanese official says
TOKYO, July 29 (Reuters) - Japan's leading trade negotiator said on Tuesday that the trade deal Tokyo agreed with the United States last week guarantees Japan will always receive the lowest tariff rate on chips and pharmaceuticals of all the pacts negotiated by Washington. "If a third country agrees with the United States on lower rates on chips and pharmaceuticals, those lower rates would apply to Japan," Ryosei Akazawa told a news conference. The European Union secured a 15% baseline tariff as part of a framework trade deal with the U.S. this week, averting looming new tariffs on chips and pharmaceuticals. Japan last week struck a trade deal with the U.S. that lowers tariffs on cars and other goods to 15% in exchange for a U.S.-bound $550 billion Japanese investment package including equity, loans and guarantees. Asked why there has been no joint statement on the agreement, Akazawa said Japan is prioritising having President Donald Trump sign an executive order to bring the agreed 15% tariff rate into effect. "We want to concentrate our efforts on getting the tariffs lowered first, and then we can consider whether an official document on the agreement is necessary," he said.
Daily Mirror
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
7 explosive moments in Donald Trump's years-long feud with London Mayor Sadiq Khan
US President Donald Trump has a fraught history with London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan - The Mirror takes a look back at some of the standout moments from their long-running feud Donald Trump reignited his feud with Sir Sadiq Khan yesterday as he branded the London Mayor a "nasty person" in a televised sit-down. Mr Trump, who is on a golfing trip to Scotland, took a shot at Sir Sadiq when he was asked if he will visit London during his state visit in September. The Republican politician said he didn't know, before hurling abuse at the mayor: "I'm not a fan of your mayor. I think he's done a terrible job. He's a nasty person." It was an an uncomfortable moment for Keir Starmer, who was sitting next to the President and was forced to lean over and interject, saying: "He's a friend of mine." But it was not the start of tensions between Mr Trump and Sir Sadiq. The US President has a fraught history with the London Mayor dating back to his last presidency. The Mirror takes a look back at some of the standout moments from their long-running feud. IQ test jibe In 2016, Mr Trump challenged Sir Sadiq to an IQ test after he said the US President's views on Islam were ignorant. The then newly elected London Mayor branded Mr Trump's views on Muslims "ignorant" and said: "I'm clearly hoping Hillary Clinton wins." Sir Sadiq criticised Mr Trump after he vowed to ban Muslims from the US during the 2016 presidential campaign. He said: "Donald Trump's ignorant view of Islam could make both of our countries less safe. It risks alienating mainstream Muslims around the hands of extremists." In an interview with Piers Morgan, Mr Trump later said he was offended by Sir Sadiq's comments and even challenged him to an IQ test. "He doesn't know me, hasn't met me, doesn't know what I'm on about," he said. "I think they're very rude statements and frankly tell him I will remember those statements. They're very nasty statements." Trump's astonishing 'pathetic' comment In 2017, Donald Trump launched an astonishing Twitter attack on Sir Sadiq Khan following a terrorist attack in London, calling the London Mayor's response "pathetic". Eight people were killed and 48 injured when terrorists drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before launching a deadly knife attack. In the aftermath, Sir Sadiq sought to reassure Londoners, telling people there would be an increased police presence in the capital but that there was "no reason to be alarmed". The US president took issue with the comment, tweeting: "Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his "no reason to be alarmed" statement. MSM [mainstream media] is working hard to sell it!" Sir Sadiq's office initially responded by saying the London mayor had 'more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump's ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks'. Sir Sadiq allows giant 'Trump Baby' In 2018, Sir Sadiq granted permission for a giant blimp depicting Mr Trump as an angry, orange baby to fly over London during the US President's visit. The mayor said he supported the decision taken by the Greater London Authority, adding that it was not for him to be a "censor". In a frank exchange with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain at the time, Sir Sadiq said: "My views are irrelevant. The issue is 'Do they have freedom to protest, freedom to assemble and should they be allowed to do so?' If it's peaceful and it's safe they should, Piers." The 20ft (6m) high inflatable, dubbed "Trump Baby", was granted permission to rise above Parliament Square Gardens. 'Stone cold loser' In 2019, moments before he landed in the UK for a three-day state visit, Mr Trump launched a vicious attack on Sir Sadiq, branding the mayor a "stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London". Tweeting from the plane, the US President wrote: "Sadiq Khan, who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly 'nasty' to the visiting President of the United States, by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom. He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me." Misspelling Sir Sadiq's name, Mr Trump continued: "Kahn [sic] reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC, de Blasio, who has also done a terrible job - only half his height." A spokesman for the mayor at the time said the "childish insults should be beneath the president of the United States". '20th Century fascist' Mr Trump's "loser" comment came a day after Sir Sadiq had compared President Trump to a "20th Century fascist", saying he was guilty of "defending white supremacists, neo-Nazis and anti-Semites" in Charlottesville and "amplifying messages from racists in this country". He wrote in The Observer: "President Donald Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat. The far right is on the rise around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms and the values that have defined our liberal, democratic societies for more than 70 years. "Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Matteo Salvini in Italy, Marine Le Pen in France and Nigel Farage here in the UK are using the same divisive tropes of the fascists of the 20th century to garner support, but with new sinister methods to deliver their message. And they are gaining ground and winning power and influence in places that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago." Trump branded 'racist bigot' Also in 2019, Donald Trump launched an attack on Sir Sadiq over knife crime in London after three killings in the capital in less than 24 hours. The US President was branded a "racist bigot" after also amplifying a racist tweet The US President branded the British politician "a disaster" while re-tweeting far-right activist Katie Hopkins. He said: "LONDON needs a new mayor ASAP. Khan is a disaster - will only get worse! He is a national disgrace who is destroying the City of London!" It sparked a furious backlash from now-Energy Secretary Ed Miliband saying: "What is it about Sadiq Khan and what he stands for that leads the President to be tweeting rubbish about him? Oh yes, Trump's a racist bigot, who tried to ban Muslims from America and hates anyone who stands up to him." Critics - including Jeremy Corbyn - also slammed Mr Trump for re-tweeting a post by Hopkins in which she referred to London as 'stab-city' and 'Khan's Londonistan'.. 'Trump is racist' Last year, London Mayor Sadiq Khan labelled Donald Trump a "racist" and claimed that the then President-elect singled him out because of his skin colour. Mr Khan, who was repeatedly attacked by Trump during his first term in the White House, said his policies were "sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist". He said: "He's coming for me for my ethnicity and my religion, so it's incredibly personal to me." Speaking to the High Performance podcast before November's Presidential Election, the London Mayor said: 'It's personal, let's be frank. If I wasn't this colour skin, if I wasn't a practising Muslim, he wouldn't have come for me.
