Postpone King Charles’ US state visit or risk embarrassing monarchy, senior Labour MP urges Starmer
A senior Labor MP has joined growing calls for King Charles’ visit to the US to be postponed due to worsening relations between Britain and Donald Trump’s administration.
The US president hit out at Sir Keir Starmer again on Monday, saying he was “not happy” with his response to the outbreak of war in the Middle East.
The so-called special relationship has become strained in recent weeks, leading to fears it could overshadow the King’s visit to the US, said to be planned for the end of next month.
On Monday, Dame Emily Thornberry, chair of the foreign affairs committee, added a call for the trip to be postponed to prevent it proceeding in a “war atmosphere”.
“If it were to go on next month – the dates haven’t been confirmed yet but everyone seems to think it will be next month – it would be going on in a wartime environment and I think that’s quite difficult. And the last thing we want to do is embarrass Her Majesty,” he told BBC Radio 4.
“I don’t know what the discussions are. I don’t know what the program will entail, but I think very careful consideration needs to be given to whether it would be appropriate to continue now or have a limited program or postpone.”
When asked whether he believed the visit should be postponed, he said: “I think it would be safer to delay, but I don’t know the details.”
King Charles played a vital role in easing relations between the UK and Trump; The US president’s second state visit last year was seen as a great success.
The upcoming state visit will be attended by Queen Elizabeth II. It will coincide with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the US declaration of independence, the first visit by a British monarch since Elizabeth II accepted George W. Bush’s invitation in 2007.
Ms Thornberry’s comments come after Ed Davey last week called for the upcoming state visit to be cancelled.
Downing Street had previously reiterated that the visit had not yet been confirmed, but the Liberal Democrat leader said “another major diplomatic coup” should not be allowed after Mr Trump launched what he called an “illegal war” against Iran.
Donald Trump launched another rant at the prime minister on Monday, saying he was “not happy” with Sir Keir, who rejected the US president’s call to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
Sir Keir said on Monday that Britain “will not be drawn into a wider war” following threats from Mr Trump if Britain and other NATO countries refuse to send warships to protect oil supplies along the key route.
