UK politics live: Starmer warned not to pull punches with Trump after ex-president says PM ‘very popular’

The government should not “pull our punches” if they disagree with the American president, Labour MP Emily Thornberry has said.

Her comments come as Sir Keir met Donald Trump for the first time as the two sat down for a two-hour dinner meeting in New York.

Ms Thornberry, House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Donald Trump may be the president of the United States in a couple of months’ time so of course, it’s important to have meetings with him and to build a relationship with him.

“Whatever criticisms one may have of Donald Trump, the point is that the office of president is one that needs to be properly respected and the Americans are very close friends of ours.”

Ms Thornberry added: “I do think that if there are things the American president does or says that we disagree with, then we shouldn’t pull our punches.”

She also said Mr Trump must be “called out” for his “racist” remarks.

Following the meeting, the former president heaped praise on “very popular” Sir Kier.

“I actually think he’s very nice. He ran a great race, he did very well, it is very early, he is very popular,” he said.

Boris Johnson had a “manly pep talk” with the Duke of Sussex to try to persuade him not to leave the UK and move to the United States.

According to the then-prime minister, Downing Street and Buckingham Palace asked him to talk to Harry in January 2020, hours after his speech announcing that he and his wife Meghan planned to step away from royal life.

Mr Johnson writes in his forthcoming memoir that there was “a ridiculous business … when they made me try to persuade Harry to stay. Kind of manly pep talk. Totally hopeless”, The Daily Mail reported, ahead of a serialisation of the