Trump 'wrong' to retweet anti-Muslim videos: Britain PM Theresa May's spokesperson
LONDON: US President Donald Trump was "wrong" to retweet anti-Muslim videos posted by a leader of a British far-right group, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said on Wednesday.
He said the group, Britain First, "seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions. They cause anxiety to law abiding people".
"British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far right, which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents -- decency, tolerance and respect.
"It is wrong for the president to have done this."
Trump retweeted videos posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First who was last year convicted of religiously aggravated harassment of a Muslim woman.
Britain First was founded in 2011 by Jim Dowson, a former member of the anti-immigration British National party, and wants to ban Islam from Britain.
It is known for staging protests outside mosques, and has ran and lost in several British and European parliament elections.
The neo-Nazi sympathiser who murdered of British MP Jo Cox was heard shouting "Britain first!" as he shot and stabbed her last year, which some commentators interpreted as a reference to the group.
Anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate described it as "the most prolific anti-Muslim street movement in the UK" and said it has a membership of around 1,000 people.
Although small, it has a wide reach on social media, and has 1.9 million likes on its Facebook page.
Fransen, its deputy leader since 2014, was fined nearly £2,000 (2,265 euros, $2,688) last year for abusing a Muslim woman wearing a hijab during a "Christian patrol" in Luton, north of London.
A trained lawyer, the 31-year-old is credited with giving the group its religious drive -- in a mission statement, Britain First says it wants to "restore Christianity as the bedrock and foundation of our national life".
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour party, had tweeted earlier: "I hope our government will condemn far-right retweets by Donald Trump. They are abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society."