Sajid Javid tells 'unbecoming' Donald Trump to butt out on knife murders

Home Secretary Sajid Javid unleashed a withering slapdown to Donald Trump today, condemning a remark by the US President about killings in London as “unbecoming of a leader of such a great state”.

The senior Cabinet minister bluntly told Mr Trump to stop “interfering in another country’s domestic politics”.

Mr Javid hit out after the US President retweeted a post from Right-wing commentator Katie Hopkins over the weekend which called the capital “Stab-City” and “Khan’s Londonistan” after the series of fatal gun and knife attacks.

In a comment on his retweet, Mr Trump again lashed out at Mayor Sadiq Khan, messaging: “LONDON needs a new mayor ASAP. Khan is a disaster — will only get worse!”

During a Tory leadership hustings at Westminster, Mr Javid was asked about Mr Trump’s comments and responded: “President Trump should stick to domestic politics. It’s unbecoming of a leader of such a great state to keep trying to interfere in another country’s domestic politics.

“Clearly I’m deeply concerned about serious violence. There is a lot that is going on across government, including the Home Office, especially the work that I have done with the new Offensive Weapons Act, bringing back stop and search, more funding, I want to see 20,000 more police officers on the streets ... it was a mistake that numbers were cut by so much.

“But on that issue, again, the President of the United States was right to be concerned about serious violence, but he should be concerned about the serious violence in his own country which is more than 10 times higher than it is in the UK.”

The diplomatic bust-up came after a man in his forties became London’s latest murder victim early today after a weekend of bloodshed that left three others dead. No 10 declined to comment on the statement by Mr Javid, who was not invited to a state banquet at Buckingham Palace laid on for Mr Trump this month.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he would not use the words attacking Mr Khan, but he added: “The Mayor of London has completely failed to tackle knife crime and in that I 150 per cent agree with the President.”

Today Mr Khan accused Mr Trump of being a “poster boy for racists”. Speaking in central London, he added: “It’s remarkable that you’ve got the President of the USA amplifying the tweets of a far-Right activist.”

Before he landed in the UK for his state visit, Mr Trump branded Mr Khan a “stone cold loser” in a startling attack on Twitter.