Labour leader says UK ‘should not honour president who uses racist and misogynist rhetoric’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Jeremy Corbyn has declined an invitation to attend a state dinner with Donald Trump when the US president visits the UK in June.

Trump has accepted an invitation to a long-delayed state visit, including a formal white-tie dinner hosted by the Queen.

In a statement, the Labour leader said he disagreed with the prime minister’s decision to offer a formal visit to the US leader and confirmed he would not attend any state dinner.

“Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honour a president who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric,” said Corbyn.

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“Maintaining an important relationship with the United States does not require the pomp and ceremony of a state visit. It is disappointing that the prime minister has again opted to kowtow to this US administration.”

However, Corbyn reiterated his invitation to hold discussions with Trump – an offer that is unlikely to be taken up. “I would welcome a meeting with President Trump to discuss all matters of interest,” he said.

His statement follows similar refusals from the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, and the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Vince Cable. As leader of the opposition, Corbyn is invited to formal state dinners and attended a banquet in honour of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, shortly after becoming Labour leader in 2015. During the last state visit of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, he was represented by the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry.

The White House has already confirmed the president will meet the Queen and hold talks with May during the state visit. The prime minister and the president will then attend D-Day events in Portsmouth’s Southsea Common before going to Normandy for further commemorative events.

Such occasions can include the visiting head of state addressing both Houses of Parliament, but Bercow said in 2017 that Trump should not be allowed to make a formal address. The Speaker cited the president’s controversial ban on migrants from certain Muslim countries.

Norman Fowler, Bercow’s counterpart in the House of Lords, has said there is a “strong case” for the US president being extended an invitation to speak.

The decision will lie with the Commons authorities. More than 80 MPs from opposition parties have signed a bid to block the visit by a president accused of “misogynism, racism and xenophobia”.

Protesters are expected to gather for the president’s visit and are considering launching a hot air balloon five times the size of the Donald Trump baby blimp that became the focal point of protests when he visited last July.