Starmer refuses to confirm Lammy would be foreign secretary if Labour wins

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to confirm that David Lammy would be his foreign secretary if Labour wins the general election.

Mr Lammy has kept a relatively low profile during the election campaign amid Westminster speculation that he could be demoted to a more junior Cabinet role after July 4.

It comes after Sir Keir distanced himself from past remarks made by Mr Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, about Donald Trump, the Republican candidate in November’s US presidential election.

Asked by reporters whether Mr Lammy would keep his role, the Labour leader said: “I’m not going to announce anybody who may be in a Cabinet after Thursday if we win.”

Sir Keir has appeared to take a different approach to other members of his shadow cabinet in the past. In 2022, he confirmed that he would make Angela Rayner his deputy prime minister if Labour was elected.

And after Rachel Reeves’ keynote speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool last year, he wrote on X: “With her as Chancellor, Labour will bring growth back to Britain and make working people better off.”

On Friday, Sir Keir disowned comments made about by Mr Lammy about Mr Trump in 2018. In an article for Time magazine, Mr Lammy had set out why he was taking part in protests against the then-president’s visit to the UK.

“I will be one of tens of thousands on the streets, protesting against our government’s capitulation to this tyrant in a toupee,” he said. “Usually, we do not welcome presidents of the United States in this manner – but this is no normal president.”

Mr Lammy went on to call Mr Trump a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath” and said he posed a “profound threat to the international order”.

Asked about those comments during a phone-in on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sir Keir said: “Those aren’t words that I’ve ever used. I’ve dealt with all sorts of leaders, when I was chief prosecutor, across the world.”

Mr Lammy has softened his words on Mr Trump in recent months, declining to label him “racist” and insisting Labour would work with whoever wins the US election.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, he said most politicians had “strong views” about Mr Trump at the time of his remarks, adding: “I was on the back bench at that period, free to say what I felt. We’ve now moved into, I think, a slightly different place. The bottom line is that I take very seriously the responsibility I have if I become foreign secretary.

“What he was saying was, you guys in Nato have got to spend some more, and he’s right about that. So I’m prepared to say where he’s right.”

On Saturday, Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, claimed Sir Keir and Mr Lammy were “hopelessly naive about the dangerous world in which we’re living”.

“If the next world war is fought between international lawyers, we’ll win hands down,” he told The Sunday Times. “But that’s not going to be the case, so you’ve got to make sure you strengthen your defences. You strengthen your intelligence and security. The last thing we need in Britain now is another liberal Leftie lawyer running the country.”

Lord Cameron expressed his own reservations about the prospect of Mr Trump returning to the White House, saying: “I’m always in favour of an America that is standing up for global peace and security and acting in that way, so that’s my concern.”