Trump’s retweets draw belated condemnation from the U.K.

However, invitation for state visit is not withdrawn

November 30, 2017 12:36 am | Updated 12:36 am IST - London

The British government gave into pressure from across the political spectrum on Wednesday, and criticised U.S. President Donald Trump for retweeting three tweets from Britain First, a far-right organisation.

“It is wrong for the President to have done this,” Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokesperson said in a statement late on Wednesday. “Britain First seeks to divide communities in their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions. They cause anxiety to law abiding people.”

However, the invitation for a state visit by Mr. Trump has not been withdrawn.

Earlier, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn warned that Mr. Trump’s retweeting of the videos by Jayda Fransen, Britain First’s deputy leader, represented a “threat to our society.”

Britain First, founded by former British National Party politicians, has gained notoriety for its extreme anti-Muslim stance and its provocative and distorted use of social media to spread its anti-immigrant views.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump retweeted the videos purportedly of Muslims carrying out violent acts that were circulated by Ms. Fransen.

She was arrested earlier this month over comments made at a rally in Belfast over the summer. Last year she was convicted for abusing a woman in a hijab.

The words “Britain First” have particularly disturbing connotations in Britain: they were shouted by far-right terrorist Thomas Mair, who murdered Labour MP Jo Cox last year on the street outside her constituency office.

“Trump has legitimised the far right in his own country, now he’s trying to do it in ours. Spreading hatred has consequences & the President should be ashamed of himself,” tweeted Brendan Cox, Ms. Cox’s widower, who has since become a prominent campaigner against the far right and their anti-immigrant agenda.

Mr. Corbyn described Mr. Trump’s action as “abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society”. Condemnation also poured in from other political parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party’s Jo Swinson, who accused him of sowing “division and hatred at every turn…Trump needs to do the world a favour and delete his account,” she said.

The developments have intensified calls for a ban on Mr. Trump visiting Britain. Earlier this year, Prime Minister May was forced to defend the government’s decision to invite him on a state visit, insisting he was the “democratically elected head of our most important ally”. Over 1.86 million Britons had signed a parliamentary petition calling for the state visit to be cancelled, while John Bercow, the leader of the House of Commons, had expressed his reservations about Mr. Trump addressing Parliament.

Chuka Umunna, a prominent Labour MP, on Wednesday became the latest person to call for the state visit invitation to Mr. Trump to be immediately withdrawn. “The U.S. President is normalising hatred. If we don’t call this out, we are going down a very dangerous road,” he tweeted.

The government has faced criticism for its reluctance to condemn actions by the U.S. President, with many suggesting that in its eagerness to pave the way for post-Brexit trade deals, the government is willing to compromise its stance on key foreign policy issues

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