Starmer ducks Trump cats and dogs row but promises photo of new Downing Street kitten

Sir Keir Starmer has promised to publish a picture of thenew Siberian kitten in Downing Street as he tried to avoid commenting on the “cats and dogs” row inspired by Donald Trump during the recent presidential debate.

The prime minister is heading to the White House for a key bilateral summit with Joe Biden on Ukraine and the Middle East but his trip was already overshadowed by the fallout from the US election.

The debate earlier this week saw the former president claim thatmigrants in Springfield, Ohio “are eating dogs, they’re eating cats, they’re eating the pets of the people who live there. This is happening in America”

The claim have been met with widespread ridicule sparking memes and videos of horrified dogs on social media. They have also been denied by the city manager of Springfield, Ohio where the allegations are said to have taken place.

Ironically, Trump was the only US president not to have a dog in the White House while Joe Biden has a German shepherd called Commander which has been accused of biting a security guard.

But with the election just weeks away, Sir Keir is keen to avoid any remarks which may insult one of the victors.

Already he is not meeting with vice president Kamala Harris, Trump’s opponent, because she will be campaigning in the swing states ahead of the vote in November.

Sir Keir called this “perfectly understandable”. But it also meant he avoided accusations of being seen to favour one candidate over another.

Asked if he caught the Harris/ Trump debate, Sir Keir said: “No. I have seen bits of clips of it. I didn’t see the whole thing.”

But he laughed when asked if he was worried about the safety of “the nation’s cats and dogs” in Britain with irregular migrants coming through Kent after