Mother of soldier injured in Afghanistan brands Trump's comments 'an absolute disgrace'

Speaking to LBC's Shelagh Fogarty, Mr Parkinson's mother, Diane Dernie, has slammed the claims, saying they "get worse every time you hear them."

Mr Parkinson, 41, is widely regarded as the most severely injured British soldier to survive a tour of Afghanistan after his Army Land Rover hit a mine near Musa Qala in 2006.

It follows comments made by the US president which provoked outrage after he claimed that Nato troops stayed away from the front line during the Afghanistan conflict.

Read more: PM brands Trump's comments about UK troops in Afghanistan 'insulting and frankly appalling'

Read more: ‘Ultimate insult’: Mother of war hero Ben Parkinson blasts Trump for saying Britain stayed away from front lines

The US president made his comments in an interview with Fox News in which he reiterated his suggestion that Nato would not support America if asked.

Mr Parkinson is currently recuperating after yet another operation - almost 20 years after he was injured.

Mrs Dernie told Shelagh: "The gut reaction is worse every time you hear it. Everything about his statements, the words he uses, the tone of voice that he uses, the utter dismissal of everything that our troops went through and sacrificed in Afghanistan.

"An absolute disgrace. Absolute disgrace."

She pointed to the 457 British families who lost loved ones in the conflict.

She added: "There are 400 odd families who would dearly love to be in the position that we are.

"And our job for the last 19 and a half years has been fighting for Ben because of the sacrifice that he made and so many others like him in Afghanistan."

Mrs Dernie described Trump's comments as a "dismissal" of the losses Britain and its allies faced.

"Listen to his tone of voice. It's as if it's not even worth discussing because you just weren't there. It's rewriting history. It's wrong. It's wrong on so many fronts."

She went on to call on Sir Keir Starmer to condemn the comments, which he did hours later.

He paid tribute to the 457 British personnel who died and those who were injured, and said: "I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their country.

"There were many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries.

"I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling and I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country."

Sir Keir said he would apologise if he had said the words used by Trump.

Previously, Mrs Dernie described Trump's comments as "the ultimate insult."

She said: “I can assure you, the Taliban didn’t plant IEDs miles and miles back from the front line.

“To say that British troops, Nato forces, were not involved on the front lines – it’s just a childish man trying to deflect from his own actions, and it’s just beyond belief.

“I mean, it is so insulting, it’s so hard to hear.

“We’d be very interested to see what our own Prime Minister’s response is to this, because this is just disgraceful.”

Mrs Dernie added: “In 2008 General (David) Petraeus, who was head of the American forces, he actually came and met with Ben and with several of the wounded.

“He gave them all a medal, and he commented what an incredible ally the British forces were and what an amazing job they’d done, and the incredibly high price they’d had to pay.”

She said: “For Trump then to come up with this statement is just, it’s insulting.”