Andy Burnham has hit out at Donald Trump as Labour’s divisions over his return to the White House become increasingly public.
Sir Keir Starmer has already been warned not to roll out the red carpet for Mr Trump in the UK, as the government attempts to build bridges with the president-elect.
Sir Keir sent his “hearty” congratulations on Wednesday, in a move seen as designed to smooth tensions after the Trump campaign accused Labour of interfering in the election in a row over activists campaigning for the Democrats.
The foreign secretary David Lammy was also forced to try to dampen speculation of a rift with Mr Trump, after his comments branding the president-elect “a racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser” resurfaced.
Asked about the result, Mr Burnham spoke of his “concerns” and said his city “won’t compromise our principles”.
His comments appeared to echo those of London mayor Sadiq Khan, who refused to congratulate the Republican on his election win and instead issued a statement saying the result showed “progress is not inevitable”.
Mr Burnham told the Manchester Evening News he has “concerns” about Mr Trump’s election.
He said: “I don’t think it’s the case that we put those concerns to another side. You have to stick to what you believe to be right and that’s where I think people in Greater Manchester would want me to be.
“You’ve got to respect the vote over there and the way people voted. But that shouldn’t mean you don’t open your eyes to what could be really challenging and difficult issues and things that could polarise people further – we don’t want to see that.
“Obviously, you’ve got to work with people and we will continue what we’re doing. We’ve got lots of relationships in the US, we’ll be in Austin in the new year, we’ll obviously work with people, but we won’t compromise our principles either.”
A Labour minister also struggled to name any benefits of his return to the White House in an awkward Question Time grilling.
Minister for industry Sarah Jones was asked about the Republican’s historic win repeatedly by host Fiona Bruce when she appeared on the show on Thursday evening.
At one point the BBC host presenter asked her: “Can you not think of any benefits?”
Earlier Mr Lammy has branded his comments about Mr Trump “old news” and said many politicians had said some “pretty ripe things” about Trump in the past.
In his first interview since the president-elect’s victory, he told the BBC Newscast podcast that Mr Trump’s campaign was “very well run”, adding: “I felt in my bones that there could be a Trump presidency.”
Sir Keir has thrown his weight behind Mr Lammy amid the controversy over his past comments.
Mr Lammy will remain in his post until the next election, Downing Street said on Wednesday just hours after Mr Trump’s victory was secured.
The vote of confidence came after the prime minister sidestepped calls to apologise for his frontbencher’s attack, in an article written when he was a backbench MP in 2018.