David Lammy's 'neo-Nazi' comments about Donald Trump are 'a concern', ex-spy chief says

Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy has drawn scrutiny in recent days for past remarks, including calling Mr Trump a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath”.

Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of MI6, said there was “concern” about the remarks and their impact on UK-US relations.

“Well of course, there’s a lot of baggage there, and that’s a concern, but when foreign secretaries go to Washington, they don’t necessarily see the president,” Sir Richard said.

“Maybe, if they have a good personal relationship, they do see each other, but the relationship can easily be dealt with by other people.

“Maybe Trump, now, because he’s got such a strong political mandate, will put issues like that to one side.”

Mr Lammy has claimed Mr Trump “didn't seem to think it mattered” a few weeks ago, when the President-elect met the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister for dinner.

He said neither person brought the remarks up, in an interview with the BBC’s Newscast podcast.

“I found him to be a very gracious host,” Mr Lammy said.

“He did offer me a second portion of chicken. 

“He was very generous, very gracious, very keen to make sure that we felt relaxed and comfortable in his surroundings. 

“He was funny. He was warm about the UK, very warm about the royal family.”

The Foreign Secretary also told the podcast he would seek to “get across” to the US that “hurting your closest allies” is not in the president-elect’s interest, amid fears of a looming trade war.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Government is making efforts to smooth over tensions with the incoming president, who has said he wants to increase tariffs on goods imported from around the world by 10 per cent, rising to 60 per cent on items from China.

A UK state visit for the incoming president in the next year is expected to be “a bit of a tall order” as such an event takes time to organise, according to Mr Lammy.

Sir Alex Younger, another former MI6 chief, told broadcasters a Trump presidency could lead to a swift end to the war in Ukraine.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “He will attempt to engineer a rapid solution, but he’s been pulled in two directions.

“There will be a land swap. That is a terrible thing for the people who end up living under Russian rule.

“But fundamentally, it’s not the main argument. The main argument is whether Ukraine is a western or eastern country in future.”

While Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has predicted that the new US administration under Mr Trump will cease providing support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Mr Orban, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, was speaking at the European Political Community meeting in Budapest, which was also attended by the Prime Minister.

The nationalist Hungarian leader has long sought to undermine EU support for Kyiv, and routinely blocked, delayed or watered down the bloc’s efforts to provide weapons and funding and to sanction Moscow for its invasion.

He has sought to use the summits to make his case to other leaders that they should rethink their commitments to Ukraine.