Washington (CNN) United Kingdom Minister of State for Security Ben Wallace downplayed the possibility that British intelligence spied on the Trump campaign in 2016, largely dismissing the claim as he declined to issue a specific denial in line with longstanding UK practice.

Wallace made his comments in an interview CNN during US President Donald Trump's official visit to the UK. Trump and his allies have in the past claimed , originally citing an uncorroborated account from Fox News, that Britain tapped phones in Trump Tower at the request of then-President Barack Obama.

Asked about the claim, Wallace stated the UK's traditional response of not confirming or denying questions of intelligence before suggesting the claim was wrong and that their intelligence officials had more pressing matters.

"I don't think our intelligence services have any spare capacity to spend time spying on our friends and allies," Wallace said. "You know, if you want to know what's going on in American politics, switch on the news, go to a press conference, and you can find out what's going on."

The controversy over the spying claim emerged early into Trump's tenure as president when, in 2017, the White House stood by citing the Fox News report in the face of a rare denial from GCHQ, the UK equivalent to the US' NSA, which has called the accusation "nonsense."

Read More