spokesman

The future King's spokesman said he had been "caught by surprise".

"The US authorisation... violates international law and harms the overall interests of the international community," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Friday.

In one of China's strongest statements yet over the tariff war, Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong said the US should remove all "unilateral tariff measures" against China "if it truly wanted" to solve the issue.

"Heavy losses for the nation," wrote presidential spokesman Serge Nonvignon in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

The story was seized on by Labour and the Lib Dems, who urged Badenoch to sack her former leadership rival for contradicting her - but her spokesman insisted there were no differences between them.