UK politics live: Reeves dismisses Lammy’s Trump ‘Neo-Nazi’ jibe as Farage’s mediation offer snubbed by Labour

Chancellor Rachel Reeves sought to play down the impact that foreign secretary David Lammy’s past criticism of Donald Trump would have on UK-US relations.

Mr Lammy described the president-elect as a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath” in 2018.

Ms Reeves pointed out that JD Vance had used “choice words” about Mr Trump himself but was still chosen as his running mate.

The Chancellor told reporters in Manchester: “Well, look, the vice president-elect of the United States has used some choice words about the president-elect in the past, but the point is those comments were in the past.

“The prime minister and the foreign secretary met with President-elect Trump just a few weeks ago in New York for dinner.

“They had a really good meeting a constructive meeting and I have absolutely no doubt we will be able to work constructively with the new US administration under President-elect Donald Trump.”

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Nigel Farage, a well-known supporter of Donald Trump, has offered to help the Labour government establish a good relationship with the Trump administration.

He wrote: “Britain is really going to have to roll out the red carpet for Trump very quickly. If we don’t, a great opportunity will be squandered.”

Then added: “If I can be helpful in any way when it comes to bridging the divide that exists between Starmer’s government and Trump, I will be glad to assist.

“I might not agree with almost anything that Starmer and his cabinet stand for, but I do believe in something called the national interest.”

In response, cabinet officer minister Pat McFadden told Times Radio: “I think we’ll have our own relationships.”

MP Mike Amesbury has been charged with assault after an incident in his Runcorn and Helsby constituency.

The charge relates to reports of an attack on a 45-year-old man on Main Street, Frodsham, which was reported to police at 2.48am on Saturday 26 October.

Cheshire Police said the MP has been summonsed to court to face the charge of section 39 assault. The 55-year-old is set to appear in magistrates court at a later date.

The MP lost the Labour whip in October, with the party saying he had been suspended “pending an investigation” into the incident.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has responded to the Bank of England’s decision to cut the interest rate from 5 per cent to 4.75 per cent.

She said: “Today’s interest rate cut will be welcome news for millions of families, but I am under no illusion about the scale of the challenge facing households after the previous Government’s mini-budget.

“This government’s first Budget has set out how we are taking the long-term decisions to fix the foundations to deliver change by investing in the NHS and rebuilding Britain, while ensuring working people don’t face higher taxes in their payslips.”

The Bank of England has cut interest rates to 4.75% at its November Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, the second reduction of UK borrowing costs in four months.

Eight of the committee members voted in favour of cutting the base rate, versus one who preferred to keep it unchanged.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said: “We need to make sure inflation stays close to target, so we can’t cut interest rates too quickly or by too much.

“But if the economy evolves as we expect it’s likely that interest rates will continue to fall gradually from here.”

Sir John Nott, the defence secretary during the Falklands War, has died aged 92.

The senior Conservative twice offered his resignation to Margaret Thatcher after the Argentinian invasion of the South Atlantic islands in 1982 but she refused to accept it, instead keeping him in place for the successful liberation operation.

Apart from the war, the most memorable moment of his political career was storming out of a TV interview with broadcaster Sir Robin Day later in 1982.

During questions on defence spending, he lost his temper when Sir Robin asked why people should listen to a “transient, here today and, if I may say so, gone tomorrow politician” rather than veteran Royal Navy chiefs pushing for more cash.

As analysis is done on the result of the US election, many journalists and politicans have been asking what led to voters backing Donald Trump.

On LBC this morning, cabinet office minister Pat McFadden said living standards were a “big theme in the US election”.

But he said Labour will not “lecture” other centre-left parties on their campaigns following its election win.

He said: “In the Budget last week, you saw us raising the minimum wage, making sure the triple lock was kept for the next few years, keeping the freeze on fuel duty – issues which people care about on a month to month basis as they work out their budget.

“And I think that was a big theme in the US election, and it’s something that was at the heart of our Budget that was passed by the House of Commons last night.”

Asked if centre-left politics is under threat with a loss by the Democrats in the US and the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s government in Germany, Mr McFadden said: “I don’t want to give anybody any lectures.

“I know what it’s like to be on the losing end of an election, as the Democrats were the other night, and I know what it’s like to be on the winning end and so what my focus is, rather than lecturing others is remembering what we did to change the Labour Party, to focus on those living standards issues that I spoke about, and to put them into practice, as we did in the Budget last week.”

European leaders have been keen to stress that the transatlantic relationship transcends individual politicians, but Trump’s protectionist economic leanings are causing concern.

During his last term he slapped tariffs on European steel and aluminum, roiling the bloc’s economy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that the EU and the US “are bound by a true partnership between our people, uniting 800 million citizens. Let us work together on a transatlantic partnership that continues to deliver for our citizens”.

France’s centrist President Emmanuel Macron offered congratulations, “respect and ambition.”

Social Democratic German Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated Trump and said he wanted continued close ties, even if “surely many things will be different under a Donald Trump-led administration.” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, whose far right-led government is in some ways close to Trump politically, said Italy and the US had a “strategic bond, which I am sure we will now strengthen even more.”

Europe’s populist politicians, meanwhile, welcomed the victory of a kindred spirit.

“They threatened him with prison, they took his property, they wanted to kill him ... and he still won,” said Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who will hold a summit of EU leaders in Budapest today.

The UK has announced 56 new sanctions against Russia, including against Salisbury poisoning suspect Denis Sergeev.

The sanctions will directly target the supply of goods to Russia’s military and constrain vital resources crucial to conduct Vladimir Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine, the Foreign Office has said.

Foreign secretary David Lammy said: “Today’s measures will continue to push back on the Kremlin’s corrosive foreign policy, undermining Russia’s attempts to foster instability across Africa and disrupting the supply of vital equipment for Putin’s war machine. And smashing the illicit international networks that Russia has worked so hard to forge.

“Putin is nearly 1,000 days into a war he thought would only take a few. He will fail and I will continue to bear down on the Kremlin and support the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom.

“Today’s sanctions further build on the UK’s mission to combat Russian malign activity globally.

“Over the last month the UK has directly targeted Russia’s illicit shadow fleet, condemned the abhorrent use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, cracked down on malicious Russian cyber gangs and sanctioned the Kremlin’s mouthpieces who recklessly spread Putin’s lies across the world.”

After Keir Starmer spoke to Donald Trump following his US election victory last night, the prime minister shared a message on X, formerly Twitter, on the phone call.

He wrote: Good to speak with President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his historic victory. I look forward to working together.

“From defence and security to growth and prosperity, the relationship between the UK and US is incredibly strong and will continue to thrive for many years to come.”