Labour's Emily Thornberry Supports Postponing King’s US State Visit Amid Iran Conflict
Good morning. The cabinet is meeting this morning, with government business still heavily focused on foreign policy. Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, is scheduled to appear in the Commons later to provide an update on the UK’s response to the US-Israeli conflict involving Iran, likely reinforcing the position outlined by Keir Starmer yesterday.
Starmer himself is meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, and Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary general.
European leaders remain reluctant to engage directly against Tehran but are firmly committed to supporting Ukraine and are concerned about the ongoing tensions. This issue is expected to be a key topic this afternoon.
Starmer has mostly refrained from responding directly to former President Donald Trump’s repeated provocations, which intensified when Trump accused the UK Prime Minister of indecisiveness and over-reliance on advisers. However, this morning Starmer is reportedly being encouraged to consider a form of soft power retaliation by postponing the king’s planned state visit to the US next month.
Until now, calls to delay the state visit have primarily come from the Liberal Democrats, and such proposals rarely gain traction within Labour when they originate from that party. However, Emily Thornberry, chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, has now publicly supported the idea, giving it more credibility within mainstream Labour thinking.
In an interview on the Today programme, Thornberry was asked if she favored postponing the visit and responded:
"If it was to go ahead next month – the dates haven’t been confirmed, but everybody seems to think it’s going to be next month – it would go ahead against a backdrop of a war and that, I think, is quite difficult. The last thing that we want to do is to have Their Majesties embarrassed."
The visit is expected to take place at the end of April. While it is possible that the conflict could be resolved by then, there is no certainty, especially given that Trump appears not to have an exit strategy and the Iranian regime remains intact and committed to continuing the conflict.
Thornberry added:
"I think it needs to be thought through very carefully as to whether or not it’s appropriate to go ahead now, or maybe have a limited program, or delay it. But we can’t just pretend that there isn’t a background of war."
When pressed on what she thought should happen, Thornberry said:
"I suspect it would be safer to delay it, but I don’t know the details."
Agenda for the Day
- 9.30am: Keir Starmer chairs a cabinet meeting, including a political cabinet session.
- Morning: Kemi Badenoch visits east Surrey.
- 11am: Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader, and Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesperson, hold a press conference. According to the BBC, they plan to propose removing VAT and green levies on energy bills and announce a lottery prize draw where Reform UK will pay energy bills for the winner and their entire street for a year.
- 11.30am: David Lammy, deputy PM and justice secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
- Noon: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
- After 12.30pm: Yvette Cooper makes a statement to MPs regarding the US-Israel war against Iran.
- 1.30pm: Rachel Reeves, chancellor, delivers the Mais lecture. As reported by Graeme Wearden, she will highlight innovation and AI, closer ties with Europe, and regional growth as key opportunities for UK economic growth.
- Afternoon: Starmer meets Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Downing Street and also meets Mark Rutte, NATO secretary general.
- Afternoon: MPs debate all stages of a bill to increase the number of government ministers who can receive a salary from 109 (the limit set by a 1975 act) to 120.
- 3.40pm: Lisa Nandy, culture secretary, delivers a speech at the Society of Editors conference.
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Trump Expects King’s State Visit to Proceed
Yesterday, Donald Trump confirmed that he expects the king’s state visit to the US to proceed at the end of April. Speaking about his plan to build a new, large ballroom on the east wing of the White House, Trump explained the need for such a facility due to Washington’s weather conditions. He said:
"And you know the land in Washington was built on a swampy wetland. And when it rains, and you have the King of Saudi Arabia ... the King of the UK, I would say King of England, a great guy, he’s coming in very soon. And when it rains, you know what happened? And the rain would go over their feet."
