Lammy insists he could work with Vance as he plays down past comments on Trump

Foreign Secretary David Lammy believes he will be able to find common ground with Donald Trump’s running mate even after he called Britain an “Islamist” country.

Ohio senator JD Vance , who was chosen as the Republican vice presidential candidate on Monday, recently referred to Britain under Labour as the first “truly Islamist” country with a nuclear weapon.

The Foreign Secretary told BBC Breakfast: “Let me just say on JD Vance that I’ve met him now on several occasions, we share a similar working class background with addiction issues in our family. We’ve written books on that. We’ve talked about that.

“And we’re both Christians, so I think I can find common ground with JD Vance.”

You’ll struggle to find anyone who hasn’t had things to say about Donald Trump

He also said he could work with Mr Trump despite having previously called him a “neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath”.

“You’ll struggle to find anyone who hasn’t had things to say about Donald Trump,” Mr Lammy said, adding that even Mr Vance had used some “choice language” to describe his running mate.

In the early stages of Mr Trump’s political career, Mr Vance reportedly described him as “a total fraud”, “a moral disaster” and “America’s Hitler”.

The Foreign Secretary said he had spoken to many Republicans who told him that Mr Trump has “the thickest of skins”.

He said: “So in a grown-up world, in the national interests of this country, of course, if the American people choose Donald Trump as their president we will work as closely with him as we can, and we will seek to influence him where we disagree.”

The Foreign Secretary said former prime minister Boris Johnson did not tell him before he met Mr Trump this week on the fringes of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Mr Lammy told LBC: “I’m not sure that Boris Johnson consults either Keir Starmer or us on his plans. And I certainly didn’t know.”

Asked if Mr Johnson’s meeting was a good thing, Mr Lammy said: “I would hope that all former prime ministers would act in the UK national interests and not cut across us, particularly two weeks into office.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson is a “private individual” and therefore he “wouldn’t get drawn on those meetings”.

Mr Lammy is reported to have good relations with Ohio senator Mr Vance and has met him multiple times and praised his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.

In an address to the Hudson Institute in Washington in May, Mr Lammy described Mr Vance as his “friend”.

In an address to the National Conservatism conference in Washington DC last week, Mr Vance said he had to “beat up on the UK”.

He told the conference he had been discussing with a friend which would be “the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon”.

He said: “We were like maybe it’s Iran, maybe Pakistan kind of counts, and then we sort of decided maybe it’s actually the UK since Labour just took over.”

Asked about Mr Vance’s comments, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he does not “recognise that specific characterisation”.

He added: “The US and UK share a deep friendship. And the Prime Minister has been clear that we will work closely with whoever the American people elects as the president later in the year.”

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told ITV earlier in the week that Mr Vance had said “quite a lot of fruity things in the past” and she “looked forward” to meeting him and Mr Trump if they won the US election in November.

President Joe Biden has faced mounting pressure to stand aside as the Democratic candidate since his panned debate performance.

The Foreign Secretary said that when he saw Mr Biden at the Nato summit last week, he was “robust on the issues” and “fully engaged”.