A new Labour minister was questioned by Trevor Phillips on Sunday over a previous anti-Donald Trump stunt in London.
Before the exchequer’s secretary James Murray was elected to parliament, he was the deputy mayor of London under Sadiq Khan.
He held this role from 2016 to 2019 – meaning he was in office when his boss Khan allowed a six-metre high cartoon baby blimp of the then-US president to float across the capital.
It was part of a wider protest against the divisive politician’s first formal visit to the UK in 2018.
Six years later and Trump, now the official Republican Party nominee, has a chance of returning to the White House.
Phillips recalled the famous blimp on his programme this morning, asking Murray: “Do you now wish you hadn’t chosen to insult him in this way?”
The minister replied: “Look there’s been a lot of history between the mayor and President Trump but what’s important for me is being a minister in the government is that we have a relationship with the US, which is an incredibly strong one, and one that’s in our national interests and good for our national security.”
Phillips hit back: “It’s quite tricky to have a good relationship with somebody when one of your colleague has described him as a neo-Nazi and your former boss called him literally a few weeks, a racist, a sexist and a homophobe.”
The foreign secretary David Lammy called Trump a neo-Nazi in 2018, when he was a backbencher.
Meanwhile, Labour mayor Sadiq Khan criticised Trump and said his party should “call him out” in May this year.
The ex-president previously called the mayor a “stone cold loser” after saying Trump should not visit the UK back in 2019.
“Is that the way diplomacy these days under Labour?” Phillip asked.
Murray said: “In the past there have been comments on all sides of this relationship, but what it’s important for me is the strength of a relationship –”
Phillips cut him off, saying: “The strength of a relationship with someone who called you a neo-Nazi is not going to be very strong, is it?”
He said the UK-US “transcends any individuals”, and “it’s in our interests in terms of national security and economy” to get along well.
Phillips pushed: “You understand why this is an issue, don’t you?”
He noted that Lammy is now calling Trump’s running mate JD Vance is his friend and that chancellor Rachel Reeves is talking about a trade deal with the US.
He said: “You’re all going to have change your tune aren’t you?”
Murray said Labour have “never” changed their tune in their approach to the US, and that it is up to American voters to choose their president.
Trevor Philips, "Are you going to apologise for making fun of Donald Trump?"
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) July 21, 2024
James Murray, "No" pic.twitter.com/r8hFGA6Q0l
