Sajid Javid tells Donald Trump to 'stick to domestic politics' after US President attacks London mayor Sadiq Khan

Reuters

UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid

• Sajid Javid tells Donald Trump to stay out of UK politics, after the president launches his latest attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
• Javid says that Trump should stick to "domestic politics" rather than seeking to interfere in the UK.
• The Home Secrertary's comments came after he was blocked from attending the recent state banquet with Trump.
• Javid, who is the only member of the UK government from a Muslim background, said the decision to exclude him was "odd."
• Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories.

LONDON - Two of the leading candidates to be Britain's next prime minister have told Donald Trump to keep his nose out of British political affairs, after the US President launched another attack on London mayor Sadiq Khan.

The US President on Sunday called London's Labour mayor a "national disgrace" who was destroying London. The comments came in the form of a tweet which quoted the far-right UK commentator Katie Hopkins, who described the capital as "Londonistan."

Asked about Trump's behaviour on Monday, the Home Secretary Sajid Javid - who has previously been critical of the US President - said: "I think President Trump should stick to domestic politics. It's unbecoming for a leader of such a great state to try and interfere in another country's domestic politics."

Javid said Trump was right to be worried about violent crime, but suggested he should worry about knife crime in the United States, which he said was "ten times worse."

He was joined by his rival, the former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who said that Trump's comments were "unhelpful," and "not constructive."

He added: "I stand up for Britain first."

Asked the same question, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he would not have used the same language but said he agreed with the president's sentiment.

"We have a Mayor of London who has completely failed to tackle knife crime [...] in that sense, I one-hundred-and-fifty percent agree with the president," he said.

Javid, the only Muslim in the Cabinet, and one of the five remaining candidates left in the Tory leadership race, criticised Trump when he shared tweets from far-right group Britain First in 2017.

Javid was not invited to a state banquet held for the US President earlier in June, a decision he called "odd."

Several other ministers, including Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt, attended the event.

The prime minister's spokesperson said places were limited and that it was inappropriate to comment on who was invited to attend.

The spokesperson added: "The prime minister is proud to have appointed Sajid Javid as the country's first Muslim home secretary."

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