Placing Churchill bust in Trump's office is not a sign of special relationship, says Soames

A bust of Winston Churchill has been reinstated at the Oval Office, but his grandson says it's "simply rubbish" to suggest it's a sign the Trump administration wants to bolster ties with the UK.

Lord Soames, who is on the International Relations and Defence Committee, made the comment while questioning former diplomats to the United States on the special relationship the two nations have shared.

Much was made of the decision by President Donald Trump to reinstall the Churchill bust on a table in the Oval Office in his redecoration of the White House. 

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It has been displayed and removed by various administrations over the years.

But Lord Soames ruled out any deeper meaning for the move.

He said: "The sort of awful ghastliness of whether or not there is a head of Churchill in the Oval Office and what that means for the Americans, for the special relationship, is just simply rubbish."

Commenting on the future relationship between the US and the UK, he said: "It's not any longer going to be as it was because they [the Trump administration] don't want it to be.

"I think they despise Europe, really, I think the Trump people despise Europe."