Theresa May fails to challenge Trump over Britain First in first call since incident, read-out suggests

The Prime Minister did discuss the President's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital

Theresa May was photographed holding hands with the US President at the White House in January (Getty)

Official reports of Theresa May’s first call with Donald Trump since the President promoted propaganda videos from a British far-right extremist group indicate she failed to raise the issue.

Their discussion, set out in a Downing Street read-out of the call, makes no mention of the incident which led to a tense public clash between the two leaders earlier this month.

Its absence led Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn to accuse Ms May on Tuesday of failing in her “responsibility to stand up against hate”.

The Prime Minister did discuss Mr Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, which she declined to follow.

It is the first time the pair have spoken since Ms May said the President was “wrong” to have promoted social media messages from Britain First, whose leaders have since had their Twitter accounts suspended.

At the time, Ms May was not clear whether she would raise the matter with the President next time she spoke to him on the phone.

But her words at a press conference still prompted an angry response from Mr Trump, who tweeted directly to Ms May: “Don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”

Days later the pair were at odds again when the US leader overturned decades of American foreign policy to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

Ms May said she would be in contact with the President over his inflammatory decision on Jerusalem, which sparked protests in the Middle East.

Now, almost two weeks later, the read-out of the call on Tuesday afternoon reported: “They discussed the different positions we took on the recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and agreed on the importance of the US bringing forward new proposals for peace and the international community supporting these efforts.”

It also set out that the Prime Minister raised Yemen and highlighted the UK’s “ongoing deep concerns at the humanitarian situation”.

The read-out said they agreed on the “vital importance of reopening humanitarian and commercial access” to prevent famine and alleviate the suffering of innocent Yemenis.

The country has been subjected to a brutal bombing campaign headed by the Saudi Arabian military, which has been armed by British defence firms.

Ms May also updated the President on the recent progress in Brexit negotiations and “wished each other a very Merry Christmas”, before promising to keep in close touch.

There was also no apparent mention of either a working visit expected in February or Ms May’s outstanding invitation to Mr Trump for a state visit.

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: “It has taken Theresa May two weeks to contact Trump over his dangerous decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, yet she seems to have failed to use the opportunity to call him out for retweeting abhorrent Islamophobic material.

“As Prime Minister, May has a responsibility to stand up against hate and for all communities in our country.”

After Mr Trump retweeted anti-Muslim propaganda videos posted by Britain First to his 47 million followers, the group claimed they had enjoyed a surge in support.