David Cameron has slapped down Donald Trump over his 'divisive and wrong' comments about Muslims

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Donald Trump

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to the crowd at a Pearl Harbor Day Rally at the U.S.S. Yorktown December 7, 2015 in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. The South Carolina Republican primary is scheduled for February 20, 2016.

The official spokeswoman for David Cameron has said British Prime Minister thinks Donald Trump's comments about Muslims are "divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong."

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She was referring to a statement made on Monday by the real-estate mogul and presidential candidate which called for the US government to ban all Muslims from entering the country.

Trump said: "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."

The brash billionaire was described as being "unhinged" by fellow presidential candidate Jeb Bush following his comments.

Here is what Cameron's spokeswoman told journalists at a press briefing this afternoon:

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"The prime minister completely disagrees with the comments made by Donald Trump, which are divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong... The prime minister has been very clear that, as we look at how we tackle extremism and this poisonous ideology, what politicians need to do is look at ways they can bring communities together and make clear that these terrorists are not representative of Islam and indeed what they are doing is a perversion of Islam."

The strongly worded statement is an extraordinary divergence from normal protocol. British governments almost never comment on other domestic elections going on in other countries as a matter of principle, so it's very surprising to see Downing Street taking such a strong stance on Trump.

And it's not just Cameron, politicians from different political parties have been laying into Trump all day.

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It's hard to know how this would leave relations between Britain and the US if Trump, who is leading the polls for the Republican nomination, wins next year's Presidential election.