U.K. Deputy PM dismisses 'Islamist' nuclear state jibe by Trump VP pick Vance

Britain's Deputy PM responds to U.S. VP contender's remarks, emphasizing cooperation with U.S. regardless of election outcome.

Britain's Deputy Prime Minister on July 16 played down comments by U.S. vice presidential contender J.D. Vance that Britain was an Islamist nuclear-armed country, saying he had a history of making "fruity" remarks.

Britain would work with whoever won November's U.S. presidential election, Angela Rayner added.

At a conference earlier this month, Mr. Vance, who Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump named as his running mate on July 15, said that Britain was the "first truly Islamist country" to have nuclear weapons following the Labour Party's victory in a July 4 election, to laughs in the audience.

Mr. Vance said he had been discussing with a friend which country would be the first "truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon".

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"And we sort of finally decided maybe it's actually the U.K., since Labour just took over," he said, in reference to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's party.

Ms. Rayner, Mr. Starmer's Deputy in both the Labour Party and as Prime Minister, told broadcaster ITV that Mr. Vance had said "quite a lot of fruity things in the past," and added, "I don't recognise that characterisation".