Keir Starmer has issued an unprecedented rebuke to Donald Trump for his “insulting and frankly appalling” remarks about British troops in Afghanistanand suggested he should apologise.

After a week of fractious relations with the White House, Starmer said he was not surprised that relatives of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan were hurt by Trump claiming they avoided the frontline.

Starmer’s critical intervention marks an escalation of tensions with Trump’s administration after the president had earlier in the week criticised the UK for giving up the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. On Friday night, the government was forced to delay its bill on the Chagos Islands in the House of Lords.

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