UK PM Johnson calls suggestions he is soft on Trump ‘absolute fiction’

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson shrugged off suggestions on Wednesday that he would fall into line with the United States over its Middle East policy because he wanted a trade deal after Brexit.

“This is absolute fiction,” he told Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn in parliament after the opposition leader accused him of failing to challenge U.S. President Donald Trump over the killing of an Iranian general because he wanted a deal.

Johnson added: “The UK will continue to work for de-escalation in the region … He should be in absolutely no doubt … that we are determined to guarantee, with everything that we can, the safety and security of the people of Iraq.”

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, writing by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Stephen Addison)