US reportedly apologises to UK over Trump spy claims

The US has reportedly made a grovelling formal apology to the UK over claims that it used British intelligence services to spy on Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The Telegraph and Daily Telegraph both cited unnamed sources as saying the apology was delivered overnight by Trump’s National Security Advisor H R McMaster to his opposite number in Downing Street.

Britain's intelligence agency had earlier dismissed as “utterly ridiculous” the claims. Government Communications Headquarters, known commonly as GCHQ, responded furiously to suggestions from an analyst for US television network Fox News -- and endorsed by the White House -- that President Barack Obama had used it to spy on Trump.

GCHQ does not makes public statements on its activities, and Friday's intervention was seen as a sign of real anger at the allegations.

Andrew Napolitano, Fox's judicial analyst, claimed three intelligence sources confirmed to him that the Obama administration engaged GCHQ so here would be “no American fingerprints on this”.

In response, GCHQ said: “Recent allegations made by media commentator judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct ‘wiretapping’ against the then president-elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored.”

White House press secretary Sean Spicer used the allegation in an effort to validate an as yet unproven claim by Trump’s that Obama tapped his phones last year.

"Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command - he didn't use the NSA, he didn't use the CIA, he didn't use the FBI and he didn't use the Department of Justice - he used GCHQ," Spicer told reporters.

"So, simply by having two people saying to them president needs transcripts of conversations involving candidate Trump's conversations, involving president-elect Trump, he's able to get it and there's no American fingerprints on this. Putting the published accounts and common-sense together, this leads to a lot."

Things got worse for Trump on Thursday when the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate intelligence committee said they had seen no evidence of any wiretapping.