Sadiq Khan in fresh dig at Donald Trump ahead of UK visit
3 min read
Sadiq Khan has taken aim at Donald Trump ahead of the controversial US President’s summer visit to the UK.
It was confirmed yesterday that the firebrand Republican will officially visit Britain for the first time on July 13, holding one-on-one talks with Prime Minister Theresa May following a Nato summit in Brussels.
But London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has previously clashed with Mr Trump over terror attacks in the UK capital, took a fresh dig at the US President as he appeared to back planned protests against him.
Mr Khan tweeted: "If he comes to London, President Trump will experience an open and diverse city that has always chosen unity over division and hope over fear.
"He will also no doubt see that Londoners hold their liberal values of freedom of speech very dear."
The London Mayor has previously slammed the US President for sharing "vile, hate-fuelled" videos by the far-right Britain First party, and said Mr Trump should not be given a state visit.
But Mr Khan struck a markedly different tone from Boris Johnson, with the Foreign Secretary appearing to adopt the US President’s unconventional social media style as he welcomed the “FANTASTIC news”.
While protesters are gearing up to oppose the visit, The Telegraph reports that Mr Trump could dodge potentially embarrassing rallies in London by instead spending time at Mrs May’s Chequers country residence.
The paper also says the US President will meet the Queen during his visit, a detail Downing Street has so far not confirmed.
Ahead of the visit, Kate Allen of campaign group Amnesty International said thousands of Brits would be making their “voices heard” in opposition to Mr Trump.
“In the 15 months of his presidency, we’ve seen a deeply disturbing human rights roll-back – including the discriminatory travel ban, his reckless announcement on Jerusalem, and harmful policies on refugees, women’s rights and climate change,” she said.
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