- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Johnson Calls London Mayor ‘Pompous Popinjay’ Over Remarks on Trump’s UK Visit

© REUTERS / Dylan MartinezBritain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrives at Number 10 Downing Street in London, Britain October 24, 2016.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrives at Number 10 Downing Street in London, Britain October 24, 2016. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
LONDON (Sputnik) - UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Friday branded London Mayor Sadiq Khan as "puffed up pompous popinjay" after the latter welcomed US President Donald Trump’s Friday decision to cancel his working visit to London.

"The US is the biggest single investor in the UK — yet Khan & [Labour leader Jeremy] Corbyn seem determined to put this crucial relationship at risk. We will not allow US-UK relations to be endangered by some puffed up pompous popinjay in City Hall," Johnson wrote on Twitter.

Earlier in the day, Trump announced that he had canceled his trip to London where he was supposed to open the new US Embassy, citing his strong disapproval of his predecessor Barack Obama administration decision to sell "the best located and finest" mission in London "for peanuts," only to build a new one "in an off location."

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson - Sputnik International
Johnson Not in Favor of Canceling Trump's Visit to UK, Calls Idea Not Sensible
In a statement issued just a few hours after the announcement, Khan presumed that Trump "got the message" from many Londoners that he was not welcome over the pursuit of his divisive agenda, and characterized UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s rash extension of the invitation as a mistake.

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn also repeatedly criticized Trump publicly and called for his visit to be axed.

Later in the day, a spokesman of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's office told Sputnik that the invitation extended to US President Donald Trump was still in effect, noting that the canceled working visit, initiated by the US Embassy, had nothing to do with a state visit, details of which are to be published in due course.

READ MORE: Trump's Embassy Drama: 'Bizarre to Cancel Visit on Those Grounds' — Scholar

Reports about Trump's visit to the United Kingdom have been circulating since the beginning of 2017, when May invited the US president on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen to visit the country. The visit sparked controversy, with some demanding that Trump be barred from making a state visit over the his immigration policies and rhetoric.

In December, US Ambassador to the United Kingdom Woody Johnson told the BBC broadcaster that it was expected that the US leader would visit the United Kingdom in 2018.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала