Former US president’s team hits out at minister after she accuses Republican candidate of creating ‘vitriol’
One of Sir Keir Starmer’s ministers became embroiled in a diplomatic spat with Donald Trump on Tuesday as the Prime Minister travelled to the US for a key UN summit.
The former US president’s team hit out at Dame Angela Eagle, the immigration minister, as Sir Keir left Labour’s conference for New York.
The row risked derailing attempts to set up a meeting between Sir Keir and Mr Trump, who is running to return to the White House later this year.
Mr Trump’s team was angry after Dame Angela described his rhetoric towards immigrants as “toxic” and said it had created “vitriol”.
Steven Cheung, his campaign spokesman, said: “Nobody knows who this random person is or cares what comes out of her mouth. Who is she and what does she do?”
Speaking at Labour’s conference, Dame Angela had accused the Tories of giving a “yellow flashing light” to racists by using a “toxic discourse”.
In comments reported by The Guardian, she said it was hard for immigrants to “rise above the constant drumbeat of toxic anti-immigration, anti-immigrant rhetoric that has become emboldened, not only in Britain but across the Western countries”.
She then added: “I mean, Trump does the same. If you look at some of the memes that he’s using with the wall stuff at the moment, it’s astonishing, quite the level of vitriol that it has created.”
Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK and a close ally of Mr Trump, said the comments showed Labour was “scared” of talking about immigration.
“Angela Eagle and the Labour Party are so scared of this subject that all they can do is throw abuse at anyone who is concerned at the unwanted changes to our country,” he said.
Sir Keir dedicated a long section of his conference speech to the subject, in which he insisted voters with legitimate concerns about immigration were not racist.
He has put effort into building bridges with Mr Trump and was the first world leader to call the former US president after the assassination attempt on his life in July.
The Prime Minister left Labour’s conference after his speech on Tuesday afternoon to attend his first UN General Assembly meeting since taking office.
Downing Street was tight-lipped on whether he plans to meet either Mr Trump or Kamala Harris, the Democrat candidate to succeed Joe Biden.
He hopes to use the trip to press world leaders on freeing up Ukraine to use more weapons inside Russia, including long-range missiles.
The Prime Minister is also expected to discuss the situation in Lebanon with his counterparts as preparations for a possible evacuation of UK citizens are ramped up.
Sir Keir will use a speech to the assembly on Thursday to declare that Britain is “returning to responsible global leadership” under his administration.
He will suggest that other countries had lost faith in the UK as an international partner under the Tories, damaging the country’s credibility.
The Prime Minister is expected to say: “We are returning the UK to responsible global leadership. This is the moment to reassert fundamental principles and our willingness to defend them. To recommit to the UN, to internationalism, to the rule of law.
“Because I know that this matters to the British people. War, poverty and climate change all rebound on us at home. They make us less secure, they harm our economy, and they create migration flows on an unprecedented scale.
“The British people are safer and more prosperous when we work internationally to solve these problems, instead of merely trying to manage their effects. So, the responsible global leadership that we will pursue is undeniably in our self-interest.”
