DONALD Trump's newly-appointed running mate has described the UK as an "Islamist country" with nuclear weapons.
JD Vance was announced as the Republican pick for vice president on Monday.
His remarks, made during a speech at a conservative conference last Wednesday, may prove embarrassing to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who had been courting the likely vice-presidential nominee in recent weeks.
Vance said the assertion resulted from a conversation with a friend, where they were debating what country would be the "first truly Islamist country to get a nuclear weapon".
He said: "Maybe it's Iran, maybe Pakistan already kind of counts, and then we finally decided that it's actually the UK, since Labour took over."
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman also spoke at the conference, where she described the state of the Tory party as "terrible" and attributed its defeat at the General Election to Nigel Farage's Reform party.
Angela Rayner has denied Vance's characterisation of the UK, telling Good Morning Britain: "Look, I don’t recognise that characterisation. I’m very proud of the election success that Labour had recently.
"We won votes across all different communities, across the whole of the country. And we’re interested in governing on behalf of Britain and also working with our international allies."
Treasury minister James Murray told Sky News that he did not know what Vance was talking about.
He told Sky News: “I don’t really understand those comments.
“I genuinely heard that comment, and I don’t know what he was driving at in that comment, to be honest. I mean, in Britain, we’re very proud of our diversity.
“I’m very proud that we have a new Government, I’m very proud that our Labour Government is committed to national security and economic growth. I don’t really know how that comment fits in.”
