Khan sparks fresh row over Trump with ‘fascism' jibe

Sir Keir Starmer is embroiled in another row over Donald Trump after the Labour mayor of London warned of a "resurgent fascism" on the eve of the US president-elect's inauguration.

- KATE DEVLIN

Allies of the prime minister slapped down Sir Sadiq Khan, distancing the government from his comments, while the Tories condemned the remarks as “unacceptable”. The latest spat comes at a difficult time for the UK-US relationship.

In what would be an extremely rare move, Mr Trump is considering rejecting Sir Keir’s nominee for UK ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson. The Trump team is also still angry Labour staffers travelled to the US to campaign for their rivals, the Democrats, in the presidential race.

Sir Sadiq warned of a “resurgent fascism” and “deeply worrying times, especially if you’re a member of a minority community”, in The Observer. “By exploiting economic concerns and a growing distrust of political and media institutions, these reactionary populists have been able to attract new supporters,” he wrote.