Donald Trump’s claim that London “wants to go to sharia law” is “ridiculous nonsense”, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The US President made the claim and called Sir Sadiq Khan a “terrible mayor” in a speech to the United Nations.
Speaking on Thursday, Sir Keir told the BBC: “You saw from the state visit last week that there are plenty of things on which the President and I agree and we’re working together.
“There are some issues on which we disagree. And what the President said about the Mayor, who’s doing a really good job, in fact driving down serious crime, what he said about the introduction of sharia law was ridiculous nonsense.”
It comes after Sir Sadiq condemned Trump’s comments, calling the president “Islamophobic”.
The mayor said on Wednesday: “I think President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic and he is Islamophobic.”
"When people say things, when people act in a certain way, when people behave in a certain way, you've got to believe them,” he added.
Asked in another interview with ITV London whether he will “call out” Trump on these comments when he next speaks to him, Sir Keir said: “Of course.
“We have a frank conversation about many, many things. But I want to express my support for our mayor, Sadiq Khan. We’re very proud to have a Muslim in our diverse city.”
Asked whether he agrees with Mr Khan, the Prime Minister said: “I’m not going to get drawn into a war of words.”
The Prime Minister also said he does not agree with the Republican president that European countries are “going to hell”.
He told BBC South East: “No, he’s not right about that. I think we’ve got an incredible country of compassionate, reasonable, tolerant people in this country, and I’m very proud of who we are as a people.
“I do accept the challenge that I’ve set out myself, which is that we’ve go to tackle illegal migration, particularly in the Channel, but that’s not the only illegal migration that we have to tackle.
“And then on lawful migration, the last Government lost control. It went up fourfold. We’re bringing it down to make sure that we get the balance right.”
On his relationship with Mr Trump, Sir Keir said: “Where we disagree, we talk that through. So, you know, the vast majority of cases, particularly security, defence and intelligence, we’re working very closely.
“There are other areas where I don’t agree with the President, and I’ve been very clear about that.”
