Jeremy Corbyn suggests that there is no such thing as the Special Relationship with the US

Jeremy Corbyn has suggested that the Special Relationship with the US does not exist and said that links with the EU, India, and China are just as important.

The Labour leader said he is "not sure that anyone has succeeded in defining the special relationship" as he denied that the US is Britain's most important partner. 

He criticised the "endless offensive remarks" by Donald Trump about women, minorities and different faiths as Emily Thornberry, the shadow Foreign Secretary, called the US President a "racist".

Mr Corbyn told ITV's Peston on Sunday:  "I think there are many important relationships. The US one is obviously culturally and economically significant and important.

"Also the trading relationships we have around the world with obviously the EU, but also with India and China and the rest of the world are very important.

"Also our relationship with international institutions such as the United Nations is very important.

"The biggest disappointment of Donald Trump is, apart from his endless offensive remarks about women, about minorities and about different faiths, is his failure to support international institutions like the United Nations and like Unesco."

Mr Corbyn did acknowledge that having a relationship with and influence over the US was important "because it is such a huge military and economic power around the world".

He added: "I'm not sure that anyone has succeeded in defining the special relationship.

"I've asked about the special relationship and I was told once, by a former prime minister, I won't name the person, that if they specified what the special relationship was, it wouldn't be a special relationship."

This week President Trump said he was cancelling a proposed visit to open the new US embassy in London, saying the new embassy was a "bad deal".

However, reports have suggested he called off his trip because he felt he had "not been shown enough love" by the British Government.

"He's going to come at some point, I suppose," said Mr Corbyn. "He is the president of the United States, he will come at some point and no doubt there will be robust discussions with him."

The Labour leader refused to rule out holding a second referendum on Brexit once the terms of future relations become clear. 

He insisted that his party is not "supporting  or calling for a second referendum". However pressed on whether his party could support a second referendum in future, he declined to say. 

It came after Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, suggested that there could be a second EU referendum if 90 per cent of the public give their support to staying in.

Appearing on Peston on Sunday on ITV1, Mr Corbyn was pressed repeatedly on his views on a second EU referendum. 

He said: "We are not supporting or calling for a second referendum. What we've called for is a meaningful vote in Parliament." Asked whether he was ruling out a second referendum in future, Mr Corbyn said: "We are not calling for one either".

He said that Britain would have to be the member of a Customs Union after Brexit. He said: "There will have to be a Customs Union with the European Union, obviously. If you're in a trading relationship you can't at the same time be putting tariffs on goods. I think there also needs to be a look at some aspects of the current Customs Union and the way it is tariff heavy against some poorer countries."

Ms Thornberry earlier told the Andrew Marr show on BBC One: "We need to have a meaningful vote in Parliament and that is what we finally wrung out of this Government...those who represent this country in Parliament must have a vote on the divorce and if it's the wrong thing the Government should go back and renegotiate," she said.

"As for a second referendum, the question is are you talking about the divorce or the final relationship, because the final relationship will be agreed in many years' time.

"In either case, if 90% of the population was now saying we should stay in the EU and we must not leave, then that would be a challenge that would be there for all of us who are democrats. 

"But at the moment, and as things currently stand, we proceed in good faith, we do as we are instructed. We are leaving the EU but we have to keep this government honest and we have to make sure that when we do leave we are making decisions which actually look after our country first and foremost, which means looking after the jobs of our kids."

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