Keir Starmer rejects SNP call to axe Donald Trump's UK state visit
He told the newspaper: “If the US withdraws support from Ukraine, abandoning an ally and betraying democracy, the state visit cannot go ahead. That is simply unimaginable.
“If, despite what President Trump said, a state visit can help solidify US support for Ukraine, if the US maintains its support for Ukraine, then perhaps it can proceed.”
Shadow minister Alicia Kearns told the Mail on Sunday that “state visits should be conferred to the most honourable of allies”.
A spokesperson for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the views of individual MPs are not the position of the party.
The spokesman said the state visit is a “matter for the King” who sent the invite, adding it is “imperative that the UK remains close to America and they don’t disengage from NATO if we are going to get a just and lasting peace for Ukraine”.
Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he believes Mr Trump’s visit shouldn’t be called off, adding it should be used to leverage security guarantees for Ukraine.
An online petition calling for Mr Trump's state visit to be cancelled has amassed more than 70,000 signatures.
