‘I will always be respectful to journalists’, says PM after Trump’s ‘piggy’ slur

Sir Keir Starmer has stressed the importance of respecting journalists after Donald Trump called a reporter “piggy”.

Footage has emerged of the US president uttering the insult at journalist Catherine Lucey as he took questions on his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein on Air Force One last week.

The Prime Minister declined to say whether Mr Trump’s comment was appropriate, but noted he would always behave respectfully towards members of the media.

Sir Keir told reporters travelling with him to the G20 summit in South Africa: “I haven’t actually seen that footage but I’ve had it explained to me.

“President Trump can speak for himself so I’m not going to speak for him, but my approach is that I will always be respectful to journalists, whatever questions they’re putting to me.

“And I hope that I’ve demonstrated that over the times that you’ve all put questions to me.

“It’s really important to keep that principle of respect for journalists who are doing actually, a really important job, certainly in the UK and our democracy.”

Cabinet minister Wes Streeting went further in his criticism of the US leader’s slur, telling ITV on Wednesday that it “belongs in the history books”.

“We need to move on from that kind of language and behaviour towards women,” the Health Secretary said.

“For all the faults in British politics, I would be surprised if any leading politician in our country ever spoke to a woman in our press lobby like that.”

The November 22-23 gathering of the world’s leading economies in Johannesburg threatened to be overshadowed by the boycott by Mr Trump over widely rejected claims that white people are being persecuted in South Africa.

Multilateral fora such as the G20 have been hampered by Mr Trump’s isolationist foreign policy, tariffs on friends and foes alike, and efforts to end the war in Ukraine with Moscow while cutting out Kyiv and western allies.

Asked about the US president’s absence from this weekend’s meeting, Sir Keir told reporters: “In terms of attendance, obviously President Trump set out his position.

“I think it’s really important to be there and to talk to other partners and allies so we can get on with the discussions around global issues that have to be addressed and do have an impact back at home, but also to take the opportunity face-to-face to further the deals that I want to do for our country.”