Sadiq Khan fires back at Donald Trump over 'nasty' jibe as row explodes

Sir Sadiq Khan warned Donald Trump is "not a force for good" as he responded to his latest attack in their ongoing row. The US President claimed the London Mayor was "a nasty person" who has "done a terrible job" during a recent visit to Scotland.

But Sir Sadiq insisted the remarks were "water off a duck's back". Speaking at an event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he said it sometimes felt like he was "nine years old again" and "in the school playground".

He said: "Somebody who has views like he does about black people, about women, about gays, about Muslims, about Mexicans, thinks I'm nasty.

"Really. He is the leader of the free world, arguably the most powerful man in the world, and really."

He said that records showed since the middle of January this year - when Mr Trump began his second term in the White House - and July "there have never been more Americans applying to British citizenship and living in London".

The Mayor said: "So I think Americans have got good taste by and large."

He added that he hoped Mr Trump would come to London during his state visit to the UK next month.

He insisted that the "diversity" of the capital was a "strength, not a weakness".

He said: "I think it makes us stronger not weaker, richer not poorer.

"And when President Trump says some of the things he does, it brings from the periphery to the mainstream, views that are potentially dangerous.

"He inadvertently - I'm not going to suggest he does it deliberately - he inadvertently could be radicalising people with views that could lead to them doing things that are dangerous."

He spoke out about fears that minorities "could be treated less favourably because of the views of the President of the USA" as he accused Mr Trump of "using London and our diversity as a political football, as a proxy for a culture war".

The London Mayor continued: "On a personal level, it is water off a duck's back, but we can't run away from the fact that there are some really serious challenges we face as a western society and President Trump, in my view, I speak generally, isn't a force for good."

However he insisted that he would be "more than happy to meet President Trump" saying he would seek to show him that it is "possible to be proud to be a westerner and a proud to be Muslim, that it is possible to be British, and proud to be British, and be of Pakistani origin and be a law abiding citizen and we aren't three headed monsters".

The Labour politician said: "I suspect President Trump may have formed a view of Muslims because of the actions of a small minority of really bad people who are terrorists and use Islam in a perverted way.

"What I would want President Trump to know is that is a very small fraction of Muslims across the globe.

"So if there was an opportunity to meet President Trump, I would be more than happy to do so."

It is the latest comments in Mr Trump and Mr Khan's ongoing row with the US President previously insisted the Labour politician is a "stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London".