[ad_1]
Trump shares carriage procession with King Charles
Here are some pictures from the carriage procession.
Key events
James Roscoe, the UK’s chargé d’affaires in Washington, was seen at Windsor taking a picture of the spectacle during Donald Trump’s visit, PA media reports.
Roscoe is the acting interim ambassador at the embassy in Washington following Lord Mandelson’s sacking.
A veteran public servant, Roscoe has held a string of senior roles both within government and the royal household.
Green leader Zack Polanski says Trump using state visit ‘to whitewash his complicity in genocide in Gaza’
Zack Polanski, the new Green party leader, is due to address the anti-Trump rally in Westminster this afternoon. Speaking ahead of the march, he said:
Donald Trump comes to Britain seeking credibility and to whitewash his own complicity in the genocide unfolding in Gaza.
While the vast majority unite against Trump and everything he stands for, there will be one man who wants us to welcome him with open arms: Nigel Farage.
Farage pretends to be a man of the people, but he’s really just a man of the super rich. Like Trump he seeks power, influence and money over all else.
Our country has a proud tradition of standing up for the underdog. Today, that means standing alongside every child in Gaza; with all those in detention camps on the borders of the United States and with each and every one of those growing up in poverty here in Britain. And standing up to the bully Donald Trump and his poodle, Nigel Farage.
Back to Trump, and here is the latest dispatch from the White House pool. It’s from the AFP’s Danny Kemp.
Soldiers on horseback in ceremonial uniforms filed out and then the different detachments marched off in order, playing music. The Scots Guards, playing bagpipes were last to leave, perhaps in a nod to Trump, whose mother was Scottish and who has two golf courses in Scotland.
The Trumps and the royals then left the stage towards the Sovereign’s Entrance and went for lunch. Pool is now being taken to hold in a rather stunning arched room inside the castle.
Stephen Miller [Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy – and the figure in charge in particular of Trump’s anti-immigration onslaught], Steven Cheung [Trump’s communications director], Karoline Leavitt [Trump’s press secretary], Margo Martin [a press adviser] and Will Scharf [another adviser] were also among those in attendance at the ceremony, by the way.
Donald Trump has not met Keir Starmer yet since his arrival in the UK last night, but they will see each other at the state banquet tonight. Their main talks will take place at Chequers tomorrow.
Starmer has invested a lot of effort into cultivating a good relationship with the president, and Trump seems to have a genuine liking for him. Starmer has argued that they both won elections last year for the same reason – because they were promising change to voters fed up with the status quo.
But Trump was also reportedly impressed by the scale of Labour’s victory. He admires winners.
Which is just one reason why the latest polling from YouGov is bad news for Starmer. YouGov says his favourability ratings have hit a record low. YouGov explains:
New YouGov polling finds that just 21% of Britons say they have a favourable opinion of the prime minister, down three points on last month and the lowest such figure recorded by YouGov since he became Labour leader.
Seven in ten Britons (71%) now hold an unfavourable opinion of Starmer, up three points from August and the highest to date. This leaves the prime minister with a net favourability rating of -50, Starmer’s lowest score so far.
The president and his wife are now having lunch with the king and the queen.
Here are some more pictures of Donald Trump inspecting the guard of honour.
Danny Kemp from AFP has posted video footage on social media of Donald Trump and King Charles inspecting the guard of honour.
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and Steve Witkoff, the real estate lawyer and Trump golfing partner who was appointed by the president as his special envoy to the US, also got a seat in the carriage procession.
Just in case bearskin helmets and marching music are not your thing, there is politics news happening today. Mason Humberstone, a councillor on Stevenage council, has defected from Labour to Reform UK. He has explained why here.
I have just joined @reformparty_uk – here’s why
I’ve battled with this decision for some time. But deep down, I know it’s the right call. It isn’t ordinary, hardworking people in Stevenage and across our country who’ve left Labour – Labour has left us.
The party I joined is lost, without vision, mired in scandal, and too often speaking for a metropolitan elite rather than the people they’re meant to serve. When policies harm the British people and weaken our democracy, I cannot in good conscience support them.
As Stevenage’s youngest councillor, I entered politics to serve with integrity and respect. Today, I know I join a party that will put the British people and our great nation first. I feel proud to be part of this team and ready to get to work
Christopher Hope from GB News says this is the first direct defection from Labour to Reform UK by an elected politician in England.
This will cheer Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, who has been moaning that, despite being a friend and ally of Trump’s, he has not been invited to the state banquet tonight.
Donald Trump is watching the march past.
Famously, he loves all this military exhibitionism so much that he staged his own paradde in Washington. But the marching on that occasion was a bit rubbish. Doubtless, the king will take some pride in the fact that at least this is one thing we do better.
There is live footage of the events at Windsor Castle at the top of the blog.
[ad_2]
Source link
Leave a Reply