Sadiq Khan, Emily Thornberry, Dawn Butler: How Labour can’t hide their judgement and disdain for those who voted for Trump
Labour politicians have been losing their minds over Trump’s win in the presidential election in the same way many left-wing news outlets just couldn’t believe the Democrats had lost.
Leading the outrage has been Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London and infamous Trump basher, who wrote after the election: “I know that many Londoners will be anxious about the outcome of the US Presidential election.
“Many will be fearful about what it will mean for democracy and for women’s rights, or how the result impacts the situation in the Middle East or the fate of Ukraine.
“Others will be worried about the future of NATO or tackling the climate crisis…The lesson of today is that progress is not inevitable.
“But asserting our progressive values is more important than ever – re-committing to building a world where racism and hatred is rejected, the fundamental rights of women and girls are upheld, and where we continue to tackle the crisis of climate change head on.”
Khan’s moaning drew criticism from Leader of City Hall Conservatives Neil Garratt for ‘undermining a free and fair election’ while also using it as a distraction from his own failures in delivering for the people of London.
In 2018, Khan signed off on plans for protestors to fly a giant inflatable caricature of Trump as a baby during his presidential visit to the UK.
The following year Trump called the Labour Mayor: “a stone-cold loser who should focus on crime in London.”
Labour MP Dawn Butler, who recently shared a post saying Kemi Badenoch was “the most prominent member of white supremacy’s black collaborator class”, endorsed Khan’s view of the Trump win.
She added: “I agree with our mayor. We have to be vigilant to ensure that hard-won rights are not eroded.
“Take care everyone and look after your neighbours.”
Emily Thornberry, who was not appointed to the cabinet despite serving years as shadow attorney general, has also bashed Trump.
The Labour Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee was challenged on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday morning on previously calling Trump a “racist sexual predator”.
She responded: “Well, he is. But he is the President of the United States, and we need to work with him.”
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This comes after a list of current Labour politicians who called for Trump to be banned from addressing parliament in his first term resurfaces.
The motion was signed by over half the current cabinet including Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, David Lammy, the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary and Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary.
Commentators have been quick to highlight the difficult position Sir Keir finds himself in diplomatically as he is surrounded by so many people who have publicly attacked Trump.
David Lammy famously called him a ‘neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath’ and said of Trump potentially visiting the UK: “Yes, if Trump comes to the UK I will be out protesting on the streets. He is a racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser.”
Lammy is not alone, however. Wes Streeting, Starmer’s Health Secretary, called him an: “odious, sad, little man” and expressed a wish that Trump’s tea with the Queen would be cancelled during his 2018 visit.
Ed Milliband, Starmer’s energy secretary, said he would join a march through London organised by the “Stop Trump Coalition” while Lisa Nandy, Starmer’s culture secretary, endorsed a post saying he was a ‘human rights nightmare’.
Alicia Kearns, shadow foreign minister, said: “Yet again, the student politics approach of Labour could have serious consequences for the UK’s international relations.
“Keir Starmer and his Cabinet need to learn they are not running a student union; they’re meant to be running the country. We don’t ban those we disagree with, we debate them head-on.
“Labour need to cut the antics and understand they can’t just erase their history in opposition and pretend it never happened.”