Javid baffled by exclusion from Trump state banquet

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said he is baffled by his exclusion from the state banquet for Donald Trump during last week's state visit by the US president.

Mr Javid – one of the contenders for the Tory leadership – said he has still not received a proper explanation as to why was the only senior Cabinet minister not to be invited to the dinner at Buckingham Palace.

"I don't know. I have asked. I was just told that normally home secretaries aren't invited. So I don't know," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I don't like it. It is odd. My office did ask No 10 and they said 'no'. You'd have to ask someone from No 10 why they made that decision."

Mr Javid has previously criticised Mr Trump after he tweeted his support for the right-wing Britain First group.

He responded that the president was endorsing the views of "a vile, hate-filled racist organisation that hates me and people like me".

Asked if he thought his exclusion was due to his Muslim background, Mr Javid said: "I am not saying that at all. I really don't know."

Mr Javid did meet and speak briefly with the president during the D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth on the final day of his visit.

During the course of his stay, Mr Trump renewed his long-running feud with London Mayor Sadiq Khan – who also comes from a Muslim background – branding him a "stone cold loser".