Early evening summary
Keir Starmer has condemned Donald Trump’s claim that Nato allies did no properly fight alongside the US in Afghanistion, calling it “insulting and, frankly, appalling”. It is the harshest rebuke he has ever delivered in public to the US president, with whom he has invested considerable time and effort over the past year establishing good relations. In the past Starmer generally declined to criticise Trump in public over things Trump has said or done that have offended British political opinion. But the backlash against Trump’s comment has been unprecedented. Even Prince Harry has issued a statement dismissing his comments as factually wrong and disrespectful. While Trump said that non-US Nato troops stayed away the front line in Afghanistan (see 8.56am), Denmark, the UK and Estonia had death rates that, as proportion of overall population, were similar to America’s. Here are the figures from the BBC.
Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, is reportedly due to join those Labour figures saying the party should not block Andy Burnham standing to be a candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection, where the Labour MP Andrew Gwynne resigned today. (See 5.18pm.) Burnham will have to decide whether or not to stand by tomorrow afternoon.
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
Prince Harry criticises Trump, saying Nato troops killed fighting with US should be 'spoken about truthfully and with respect'
Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan as a helicopter co-pilot gunner, has issued a statement implicitly criticising Donald Trump for his Afghanistan comment. Harry says the sacrifices made by British military personnel who died in the conflict should be “spoken about truthfully and with respect”.
In 2001, Nato invoked article 5 for the first - and only - time in history. It meant that every allied nation was obliged to stand with the United States in Afghanistan, in pursuit of our shared security. Allies answered that call.
I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there. The United Kingdom alone had 457 service personnel killed.
Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost. Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, as we all remain united and loyal to the defence of diplomacy and peace.
(Trump’s comments were neither truthful nor respectful.)
Updated
