Keir Starmer has said he is “appalled” by the shooting at a Donald Trump campaign rally which left the former president injured and one of his supporters dead.
The prime minister said: “Political violence in any form has no place in our societies and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack.”
Starmer gave his reaction shortly after the incident in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social, after receiving hospital treatment.
“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening,” Trump wrote.
Secret Service agents piled on top of Trump after the shots rang out, then immediately hustled him offstage. The agency confirmed that Trump was safe not long after he was taken from the scene.
Secret Service officers “neutralised” the shooter, who is now dead, the agency said. One rallygoer has been reported dead and another was injured in the incident.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: ”We are shocked by the scenes at President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. We condemn all forms of political violence in the strongest terms and we send our best wishes to President Trump and his family at this time.”
Foreign secretary David Lammy also said the UK government “condemns all forms of political violence in the strongest terms”.