Angela Rayner distanced herself from the chief of Nato last night after he called Donald Trump 鈥渄addy鈥.
The secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Mark Rutte, used the questionable term for the US president during a joint press conference in The Hague.
Speaking after Trump said warring nations Iran and Israel 鈥渄on鈥檛 know what the fuck they鈥檙e doing,鈥 Rutte justified his outburst by telling reporters: 鈥淒addy has to use strong language.鈥
But the deputy prime minister made it clear she would not be using such terms any time soon.
ITV News鈥 deputy political editor Anushka Asthana asked Rayner: 鈥淭he sycophany from some people has been quite extraordinary in recent days…鈥
Pointing to Rutte鈥檚 language, she said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e obviously ingratiated ourselves to him as well. Do you agree with that way of dealing with him?鈥
鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree with that language around school children or daddies,鈥 Rayner replied.
鈥淚 believe in respecting people鈥檚 elected position. Not everyone often agrees with me being in my elected position but I鈥檓 here, I鈥檓 here to do a job, and I think people should go about that job seriously 鈥 especially when it comes to politics.鈥
Asthana said: 鈥淪o language matters?鈥
Rayner replied: 鈥淟anguage does matter and I also think action matters as well.
鈥淎nything we can do to make sure we have a peaceful future 鈥 if you look at the US economy, if you look at the UK economy, people at the moment are fed up, they feel they can鈥檛 get a home, they can鈥檛 get a good job, they feel the cost of living.
鈥淭herefore, working with our allies, including in Europe and the US, is what we are trying to achieve to affect British lives here 鈥 that鈥檚 why we鈥檝e done the trade deals and that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e fixing our foundations here in the UK.鈥
Rutte denied that he had called Trump 鈥渄addy鈥 late on Wednesday.
He told reporters: 鈥淭he daddy thing, I didn鈥檛 call [Trump] daddy, what I said, is that sometimes… In Europe, I hear sometimes countries saying, 鈥榟ey, Mark, will the US stay with us?鈥
鈥淎nd I said, 鈥渢hat sounds a little bit like a small child asking his daddy, 鈥榟ey, are you still staying with the family?鈥 So in that sense, I use daddy, not that I was calling President Trump daddy.鈥
When Trump was asked by reporters if he liked being called 鈥渄addy鈥 by the Nato chief, the president said: 鈥淣o, he likes me, I think he likes me. If he doesn鈥檛 I鈥檒l let you know and I鈥檒l come back and I鈥檒l hit him hard, OK?… He did it very affectionately though. 鈥楧addy, you鈥檙e my daddy.鈥欌