LONDON • Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday it would be "best" if US President Donald Trump does not get involved in Britain's election when he visits London for a Nato summit next week.

Mr Trump waded into the British election last month by saying the opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would be "so bad" for Britain, and that Mr Johnson should agree to a pact with Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.

But senior Conservatives are nervous that Mr Trump could upset the campaign when in London, just over a week before the Dec 12 election which polls indicate Mr Johnson is on course to win.

"What we don't do traditionally as loving allies and friends... is get involved in each other's election campaigns," Mr Johnson told LBC radio.

Mr Johnson has said that, if he retains power, he will deliver Brexit by Jan 31 - after nearly four years of political crisis following a 2016 referendum in which Britons voted to leave the European Union.

The United States President, due in Britain next Monday, has cast Mr Johnson as "Britain's Trump".

Mr Corbyn previously said that Mr Johnson will sell off parts of the NHS - Britain's widely cherished health service - to US businesses after Brexit, a claim Mr Johnson has denied.

Mr Johnson yesterday said he would use Brexit to introduce new state aid rules, change state purchasing policies and reform farming so that public bodies aim to buy British goods. "The NHS is not for sale," he said.

REUTERS