International News
The Donald Trump-Theresa May fallout: How the controversy over Britain First strained US-UK ties
It all began when US president Donald Trump on Wednesday retweeted inflammatory anti-Muslim videos by Britain First, a group founded in 2011 by former members of the far-right British National Party (BNP).
In response, British prime minister Theresa May — through a spokesperson —said that Trump was wrong to promote “hateful narratives” of the group Britain First.
Trump’s interventions in British politics have strained the so-called US-UK “special relationship.”
He has infuriated British authorities with his tweets on terrorism in Britain, including highly publicised run-ins with London’s Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan.
Khan on Wednesday had described Britain First as “a vile, hate-fuelled organisation whose views should be condemned, not amplified.”
Trump, however, did not take May’s criticism well and tweeted yet again.
“The president has been talking about these security issues for years now, from the campaign trail to the White House. He talked about them at the pool spray. He’s going to continue to talk about them on Twitter, he’s going to talk about them in speeches, he’s going to talk about them in policy…,” White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah had told reporters aboard Air Force One.
On the other hand, May repeated on Thursday that Trump was wrong to retweet communal videos by the British far-right group.
Speaking to reporters during a trip to Jordan, the prime minister stood her ground, defending her record on tackling extremism — including by the far-right — while emphasising the strength of British-US ties.
But she stressed that Britain and the United States have “a long-term special relationship… it is an enduring relationship that is there because it is in both our nations’ interests”.”I’m very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do,” May said, describing the group as a “hateful” organisation that “seeks to spread division”.
Trump’s retweets of the small group with no political representation known for its aggressively anti-Muslim stance have drawn condemnation in the United States and in Britain, where there were renewed calls for his planned state visit to be cancelled.
But opposition to the invitation has only grown, and Khan said on Thursday that it was “increasingly clear that any official visit at all from President Trump to Britain would not be welcomed”.
May said: “An invitation for a state visit has been extended and has been accepted. We have yet to set a date.”
The videos Trump retweeted, purporting to show assaults by Muslims, were posted by Britain First’s deputy leader Jayda Fransen, who has been convicted of a hate crime and faces new charges in a trial starting next month.
Local Government Minister Sajid Javid said Trump had “endorsed the views of a vile, hate-filled racist organisation that hates me and people like me”.
Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt added that Trump’s tweets were “alarming and despairing”, while angry opposition MPs called interior minister Amber Rudd to make an emergency statement to the House of Commons.
Addressing lawmakers, Rudd asked them to “look at the wider picture”, saying UK-US intelligence sharing had “undoubtedly saved British lives”.
But while she too emphasised the importance of bilateral ties, May rejected Trump’s criticism that she was not focused on tackling extremism, following a string of attacks in Britain this year.
Trump’s interventions in British politics have strained the trans-Atlantic relationship, particularly infuriating London with his tweets on terrorism in Britain.
In a pointed remark, May said: “I’m not a prolific tweeter myself and that means I don’t spend all my time looking at other people’s tweets. But when I feel that there should be a response I give it.”
Ann Coulter, a right-wing US commentator who is followed by Trump on Twitter and may have inspired his retweets, said that he “has only given as good as he gets”.
