Keir Starmer jumps in to defend Sadiq Khan from Donald Trump's ‘nasty' accusation
During a press conference in Scotland on Monday (28 July), the US president said when asked if he would be visiting the capital during his state visit later this year: "I'm not a fan of your mayor. I think he's done a terrible job, the Mayor of London… a nasty person.'
Jumping to the Labour mayor's defence, the prime minister intervened to say: "He's a friend of mine, actually.'
Mr Trump added that he would "certainly visit London."
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Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
JD Vance will stay at David Lammy's Grade I listed mansion during British 'MAGA summer' holiday as pair bond over 'being family men and faith'
US Vice-President JD Vance will stay at David Lammy 's grace-and-favour house in Kent with his family as he kicks off his British 'MAGA summer' holiday. America's second family will stay at Chevening House, the official residence of the Foreign Secretary, as they begin their break in Britain. Mr Lammy, 53, and Mr Vance, 41, have forged an unlikely bromance despite their differing political beliefs. The Foreign Secretary says he now considers Mr Vance a 'friend' and that the Vice-President 'completely relates' to him - so it may come as little surprise that Mr Vance, wife Usha and children Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel secured an invite. Arriving on Friday, Mr Vance and his family are expected to stay for one night at Chevening, in Kent, before staying in the Cotswolds, squeezing in a trip to Hampton Court Palace in Richmond, south-west London, along the way. The Cotswolds have become the latest hot ticket with Americans seeking what they see as a traditional cosy English escape. Ellen DeGeneres, the US talk show host, is reportedly deliberately fleeing her home in the area ahead of Vance's arrival after leaving the US following Trump's election. At Chevening, Mr Lammy and the VP are expected to hold a formal 'bilateral meeting' before being joined by their families. The pair have forged a friendship over their common backgrounds - both being raised without their fathers - and their religion: Mr Lammy is an Anglican; Mr Vance a baptised Catholic since 2019. 'Lammy has visited Vance's family and the relationship looks like it will continue to grow on a personal as well as a professional basis,' a source told the Telegraph. 'They will have a short bilateral meeting, no doubt discussing Ukraine, Gaza, trade and tech... They'll wrap it up and then the family will join.' The Foreign Office said ministerial engagements would be announced in 'the usual way'. Chevening, a 400-year-old Grade I listed mansion, sits within 3,000 acres of North Downs countryside - an ideal start to Mr Vance's 'MAGA summer' holiday, which comes days after Mr Trump departed from Scotland. It has been the de-facto summer residence of the Foreign Secretary for decades, after being gifted to the UK in 1959 via the Chevening Estate Act after being bequeathed by the last Earl Stanhope, James Richard Stanhope,. Mr Trump - who spent time teeing off at his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire in between holding diplomatic talks with the Prime Minister - is scheduled to return in September for his second state visit. The unlikely friendship of a Labour Foreign Secretary and a Republican Vice-President comes a year after the current Government came to power - when Mr Lammy casually swept aside concerns that diplomacy would be hard to achieve. Mr Lammy insisted he could find ways to relate with the then-favourite VP nominee, despite once calling Mr Trump a 'woman-hating neo-Nazi sociopath' and a 'tyrant in a toupee'. He has since called those comments 'old news' - and the pair have bonded over their similar upbringings and their strong views on family. Mr Lammy has spoken about his childhood growing up in Tottenham in a single parent household, his alcoholic father absent. Similarly, Mr Vance's memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, details how the Vice-President grew up in a fatherless household after being given up for adoption at the age of six, while his mother struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction. Mr Lammy told the BBC last July their 'similar backgrounds' had led to common ground. 'Let me just say on JD Vance that I've met him now on several occasions, we share a similar working-class backgrounds with addiction issues in our family,' he told the Breakfast programme. 'We've written books on that, we've talked about that, and we're both Christians. So I think I can find common ground with JD Vance.' The pair have indeed bonded in an unlikely Labour-MAGA bromance, with Mr Lammy and Mr Vance pictured in warm, cordial exchanges each time they have met in a formal capacity. In March, the Foreign Secretary and his wife Nicola Green visited the vice-president's official residence, the Naval Observatory, for a private meeting without officials. And the Foreign Secretary told the Guardian earlier this month he and Mr Vance spent a 'wonderful hour and a half' together over drinks at the US Embassy in Italy during the inauguration of the new Pope, Leo XIV. 'I remember being at the inauguration of the new pope in Rome with Angela Rayner and JD Vance,' he said. 'I don't think JD and Angela will mind me saying that they were having a couple of drinks … I really wanted a glass (of rosé) but instead I had a Diet Coke.' They may, however, clash on Gaza, after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced plans to formally recognise a Palestinian State - a view that the current US administration does not share. After engaging in a spot of politics and diplomacy with Mr Lammy, Mr Vance and his family are expected to retreat to Charlbury in Oxfordshire for the rest of their break. As the Mail reported last month, the tiny town is home to the UK's best pub - ideal for a man who confessed on the campaign trail last year: 'I do like to drink beer... I probably like to drink beer a little bit too much.' However, the Stop Trump Coalition has threatened to disrupt his holiday - ahead of Trump's state visit, which it also plans to protest. 'JD Vance is every bit as unwelcome in the UK as Donald Trump,' the organisation said. 'The prospect of such a heavy security presence in the winding rural roads of The Cotswolds is likely to spark logjams in an already overly congested area of the UK. 'We remember how Vance cut short his ski trip in Vermont because he was so enraged by the sight of a few protesters. We are sure that, even in the Cotswolds, he will find the resistance waiting.' Fashion journalist Plum Sykes told BBC Radio 4 last month of the cosy English haven: 'It's just so hot and so trendy and so fashionable... it's an incredibly beautiful area because it's being protected, almost like a national park that you can live in. 'Americans cannot get over the charm but since Covid it's been refashioned with all the pleasures of London, Paris and New York.' Earlier this year, Charlbury was named as one of the best places to live in Oxfordshire, alongside the towns of Henley and Burford. It's only an hour away from London by direct train - making it an ideal place to live for the well-to-do commuter - and has a population of just over 3,500, per the most recent census. And if he does indeed favour a picturesque Oxfordshire escape, the second most powerful man in America will find himself well-entertained. As well as The Bull pub - which re-opened under new management two years ago - there is the Charlbury Museum, founded in 1949. Mr Vance could even take a trip to Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm Shop or The Farmer's Dog pub, both of which are just a few miles away. Ellen DeGeneres' farmhouse is also within reach - though the star is said to have hastily arranged a holiday to ensure she won't cross paths with the VP. Last week she revealed she is selling one of her two Cotswolds properties for a cool £22.5million – £7.5million more than she paid for it. Ellen and wife Portia de Rossi moved to the Cotswolds after she stepped away from showbiz under a cloud of allegations that her chat show had allowed a toxic work environment to foster. A probe eventually saw three executive producers sacked - and the star issue an apology on-air for her part in not tackling the issues sooner. She has since said she left the US to 'get away from Donald Trump' after he became president. 'We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis and I was like, "He got in",' she previously said. 'And we're like, "We're staying here then".' The US VP joins Beyonce and Jay-Z and Taylor Swift as fans of the bucolic area's chocolate-box villages, honeyed-stone, rolling hills and cosy pubs. Music mogul Simon Cowell and his fiancée Lauren Silverman also live nearby - as do David and Victoria Beckham, who own a Grade II listed property near Chipping Norton. The Beckhams are among the famous faces said to have visited the trendy Soho Farmhouse members club down the road in Great Tew - which hosted Meghan Markle's hen do before she and Harry made for Montecito. And just last month the Bull Inn hosted a pre-wedding dinner event for guests of Apple heiress Eve Jobs and her husband-to-be, the Olympian show jumper Harry Charles. The wedding itself took place on July 26 at St Michael & All Angels Church in Great Tew, a few miles away.
ITV News
12 minutes ago
- ITV News
Trump's Trade War: Sweeping tariffs come into effect for over 60 countries
President Donald Trump's controversial tariffs came into effect for dozens of countries, including the UK, on Thursday. The tariffs are aimed at reducing the trade deficit and encouraging foreign investment in the US, by setting higher import taxes on goods coming into the US from other countries. More than 60 countries have had tariffs placed on them, with varying rates. T he UK will see tariffs of 10% after a trade deal was agreed between the two nations in April. Products from the European Union, Japan and South Korea will be taxed at 15%, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh will be taxed at 20%. The highest tariffs are placed on Brazilian goods, the markup set at 50%. India will soon be under the same rate, as Trump announced additional tariffs against the country on Wednesday as retribution for purchasing Russian oil. I think the growth is going to be unprecedented,' Trump said Wednesday afternoon. He added that the US was 'taking in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs,' but he couldn't provide a specific figure for revenues because 'we don't even know what the final number is' regarding tariff rates. Trump posted on Truth Social minutes before midnight, marking the new stage in a months-long trade war. "IT'S MIDNIGHT!!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!" wrote the President. The tariffs were initially introduced in April, days after initially announcing the plans. The move resulted in stock markets crashing, forcing Trump to issue a 90-day delay for the majority of tariffs so countries could enter negotiations with the US. Despite the uncertainty, Trump remains optimistic about economic growth, while many experts warn of potential long-term damage Economists argue there is little evidence that Trump's tariffs will deliver the industrial jobs boom he has promised. While higher tariffs have boosted US government revenues, they are coming from American companies importing the goods into the country. Additionally, the increased revenues are not enough to offset the tax cuts and spending pledges in Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Act. Trump argues that any country selling more to the US than it buys is taking advantage. But most economists argue that this is incorrect, as America runs a large trade deficit because it consumes and borrows too much.
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
First migrants detained under UK-France returns deal, Starmer confirms
The first migrants who arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel have been detained under the new 'one in, one out' deal, the prime minister has confirmed. The first detentions came after people arrived in Dover on Wednesday, the first day the pilot scheme came into force. Posting to social media, the prime minister said: 'We have detained the first illegal migrants under our new deal before returning them to France. No gimmicks, just results. 'If you break the law to enter this country, you will face being sent back. When I say I will stop at nothing to secure our borders, I mean it.' The Home Office said detentions began for those who arrived on Wednesday afternoon and they will be held in immigration removal centres until they are returned to France. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'Yesterday, under the terms of this groundbreaking new treaty, the first group of people to cross the Channel were detained after their arrival at Western Jet Foil and will now be held in detention until they can be returned to France. 'That sends a message to every migrant currently thinking of paying organised crime gangs to go to the UK that they will be risking their lives and throwing away their money if they get into a small boat.'
