Andy Burnham risks wrath of Trump by condemning 'abhorrent' US plan to livestream firing squad for terrorist

Andy Burnham has risked the wrath of Donald Trump by condemning an 'abhorrent' US plan to livestream a firing squad for a terrorist.

The PM made clear his opposition to public executions after the announcement about the fate of former army major Nidal Hasan.

The Islamist extremist murdered 13 people on the Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009, opening fire on unarmed colleagues. 

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has confirmed the firing squad for Hasan will be broadcast live on December 3, saying people need to see there are 'serious consequences for these types of things'.

It would be the first public execution in the US since 1937, when convicted murderer Roscoe Jackson was hanged in Missouri.

However, doubts have been raised about whether the event will go ahead, with speculation it could be tied up in legal challenges for the rest of Trump's time in power.  

Appearing on podcast The Rest is Politics, Mr Burnham was asked about the proposed execution and whether the UK should oppose it.

'I certainly would never support that. So I'm happy to make my view clear,' Mr Burnham said.

Pressed by presenter Alastair Campbell - who was Tony Blair's No10 spin chief - the PM said: 'It's something that I can't say I ever want to see anywhere in the world, Alastair. It's something that I find quite abhorrent in many ways. 

'But, you know, I only want to speak for what we will do, and why we will do it.'

Mr Burnham expanded on his approach to dealing with disagreements about the actions of other countries.

'You don't have to go around providing, you know, constant running commentary on everybody else,' he said. 

'Just be clear about what we stand for, what we believe is right and wrong. Let Britain stand for something in a world that seems to change every day.' 

Hasan walked into a medical readiness building on the base in November 2009 carrying two guns and several magazines of ammunition. 

He shouted 'Allahu Akbar', Arabic for 'God is great', and opened fire on soldiers awaiting medical tests and vaccines.

The mass shooting, which killed 13 and left 32 wounded, was the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in US history. Hasan was shot and paralysed from the waist down in the resulting gunfire and was sentenced to death in 2013.

Hasan said he launched the terror attack at Fort Hood because he was angry American troops were deployed to Afghanistan and wanted to protect Islamic and Taliban leaders. 

Last week Mr Trump ordered that Hasan be put to death by firing squad. 

And Mr Hegseth said: 'We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things.'