Jeremy Corbyn will speak at a mass rally against Donald Trump today amid a war of words with the US President.
The Labour leader last night snubbed a state banquet for Mr Trump and his wife Melania at Buckingham Palace despite having attended a similar event to honour China‘s communist ruler.
Instead Mr Corbyn will today address a London demonstration against the presence of the US head of state.
Jeremy Corbyn will speak at a mass rally against Donald Trump amid a war of words with the US President
Pictured: Donald Trump stands for his country’s national anthem as it was played in Buckingham Palace ahead of his address in the ballroom at a banquet snubbed by Corbyn
Mr Trump’s three-day state visit to Britain began yesterday with a row between him and Sadiq Khan. London’s Labour mayor had used a newspaper article at the weekend to accuse the President of resembling a ’20th century fascist’
Fellow Labour frontbenchers Diane Abbott and Emily Thornberry are expected to join protesters who will fly an offensive blimp portraying the President as an angry baby in a nappy.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt accused Mr Corbyn of ‘virtue signalling of the worst kind’, which he warned could harm the special relationship with the UK.
Mr Trump’s three-day state visit to Britain began yesterday with a row between him and Sadiq Khan.
London’s Labour mayor had used a newspaper article at the weekend to accuse the President of resembling a ’20th century fascist’.
After landing at Stansted Mr Trump blasted the mayor in a series of tweets, branding him a ‘stone cold loser’.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt accused Mr Corbyn of ‘virtue signalling of the worst kind’, which he warned could harm the special relationship with the UK
Former Labour minister Kate Hoey criticised her party’s hostile approach toward the President. Miss Hoey said she was ‘saddened by the hysterical reaction’ of some senior figures, adding: ‘A democratically elected president of our closest ally should be welcomed whether we agree with his views or not.’
In other developments:
- Mr Trump praised the Queen’s ‘fantastic’ hospitality after a day of pomp and ceremony including lunch at the palace;
- Theresa May prepared for tense talks with Mr Trump over China, with allies insisting she had taken ‘a tough stance’ towards Beijing;
- A senior Whitehall official appeared to suggest Mrs May was braced to tell Mr Trump she will allow Chinese firm Huawei access to non-core parts of the 5G phone network;
- Mrs May was expected to clash with Mr Trump over Iran and the fate of British jihadis in Syria;
- The President promised a ‘big trade deal’ if the UK ‘gets rid of the shackles’ of European Union membership;
After landing at Stansted Mr Trump blasted the mayor in a series of tweets, branding him a ‘stone cold loser’
- Met Police Chief Cressida Dick predicted that today’s anti-Trump protests will be smaller than last year’s;
- Downing Street was expecting the US President to hold protocol-busting talks with Tory leadership favourite Boris Johnson;
- Nigel Farage is said to have briefed Mr Trump on Brexit ahead of a series of interviews in which he urged the UK to leave the EU without a deal;
- Downing Street denied claims that the US had cancelled a planned one-to-one meeting between Mr Trump and Mrs May.
The first day of Mr Trump’s state visit passed off without major protests today. The US President said the relationship with the United Kingdom was ‘very strong’ and claimed he had been greeted by ‘tremendous crowds of well wishers’ whose presence had not been reported by the ‘fake news media’.
But anti-Trump campaigners are pledging to put ‘hundreds of thousands’ of protesters on the streets today.
Mr Corbyn, who has spent decades campaigning against American influence around the world, yesterday claimed the protest was an opportunity to stand in solidarity with those Mr Trump has attacked in America, around the world and in our own country.
Sadiq Khan earlier posted a video criticising Donald Trump, escalating his war of words with the President
His decision came despite a warning from Mr Trump at the weekend that intelligence sharing with the UK could be threatened under a hard-Left Labour government unless Mr Corbyn made efforts to get along with Washington.
Former Australian high commissioner Alexander Downer compared Mr Corbyn’s anti-American stance with his willingness to don white tie for a state banquet in honour of Chinese ruler Xi Jinping in 2015.
He added: ‘I talked to Jeremy Corbyn at the state banquet for unelected Xi Jinping but he boycotts the elected President of the United States. What are the real values of the modern left?’
Miss Dick yesterday warned protesters not to step out of line, saying: ‘We will be pretty firm if protesters are intending to protest in a way which is unlawful, and very, very firm if anybody wants to do anything which might in any way impact the security of the visit’
But she denied reports that 10,000 police had been called in to protect Mr Trump, saying: ‘That’s completely wrong. That’s miles above what we will be having.
‘And this particular visit in terms of the number of protests and the complexity of the protests – at least as they have been made known to us – is very much less than last year’s.’
A 20-foot-tall blimp depicting a cartoon baby Donald Trump flew in London during the president’s last visit and is expected to make another appearance this week
Mr Trump hit back at Sadiq Khan yesterday after the mayor used interviews at the weekend to liken the US President’s language to that of ‘fascists of the 20th century’. Mr Khan said it was wrong to ‘roll out the red carpet’ for him.
As Air Force One came in to land at Stansted yesterday morning, Mr Trump hit back, mocking Mr Khan’s 5ft 6in height and branding him a ‘stone cold loser’.
A spokesman for Mr Khan accused Mr Trump of using ‘childish insults which should be beneath the President of the United States’.
He added: ‘Sadiq is representing the progressive values of London and our country warning that Donald Trump is the most egregious example of a growing far-Right threat around the globe, which is putting at risk the basic values that have defined our liberal democracies for more than 70 years.’
Former Labour cabinet minister Yvette Cooper said she was ‘appalled’ by Mr Trump’s comments, and said the UK should not be ‘lavishing pomp on a President so determined to be divisive, childish and destructive.’
But senior Tories said it was extraordinary that Labour was acting in such a hostile manner to the UK’s longstanding ally.
Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan said it was ‘rude and ill-judged’ for politicians to join the protest against the US head of state.
He added: ‘I think it’s perverse to suggest that they are not allies who defend democratic values. I mean the United States has an enduring constitution, yes they’ve got a controversial president.
‘For politicians to do it… what kind of relationship does Emily Thornberry and Jeremy Corbyn think that if ever they were in government they would have with the United States, if they have behaved like this?’
Jacob Rees-Mogg said the UK had a duty to honour its ties with the US, particularly in a week when the tow allies the two countries celebrate their role in liberating Europe from Nazi occupation.
The Tory Eurosceptic MP accused Labour of ‘student union politics of an unserious kind’, adding: ‘Throwing about rude terms doesn’t really develop the debate.
‘He was democratically elected under the US constitution, he leads that country, he is an extraordinarily welcome visitor, I’m pleased he’s here, it’s a suitable commemoration for American support of us in D-Day.’
