May's spokeswoman criticizes Trump over re-tweet of controversial videos

British Prime Minister Theresa May's spokeswoman has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for re-tweeting links from a far-right British political group showing links to controversial videos.

Early on Wednesday, Trump re-tweeted three links posted by a leader of the far-right group Britain First.

The posts by the Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen showed video clips which appear to show an attack on a boy, the destruction of a religious statue, and a boy being pushed off a roof, all allegedly carried out by Muslims.

A Downing Street spokeswoman told Xinhua on Wednesday afternoon: "Britain First seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions. They cause anxiety to law-abiding people."

The spokeswoman added: "British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far-right, which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents -- decency, tolerance and respect. It is wrong for the president to have done this."

Fransen is currently facing charges of causing religiously aggravated harassment in a separate and earlier incident, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.

Reaction in British media was critical and the item led news bulletins and featured strongly on internet news sites.

Brendan Cox, whose wife Jo Cox (a British parliamentarian) was murdered by a far-right extremist during the Brexit referendum campaign in 2016, was interviewed by BBC radio.

Cox told the BBC that it was "not a big surprise" that Trump would post links to far-right groups, "considering the trajectory Trump has been on".

Cox added: "But it is clear from Trump's posture that he lives and breathes from spreading hatred. This is not a mistake, it is a strategy."

"It is shocking that the leader of the free world, who should be one of our allies, is giving a microphone to this level of hatred and fanaticism," he said.