Donald Trump has reportedly been denied the chance to address parliament during his state visit to the UK.
The decision, which is likely to be seen as a major snub by the US president, comes just days after Emmanuel Macron was given the honour of addressing parliament, where he urged Britain and France “to shoulder the burden of European security” together.
According to the Telegraph, Mr Trump is expected not to visit Buckingham Palace or enjoy a ceremonial carriage ride down the Mall in London, which have often been prominent features of state visits from other world leaders.
The decision came amid concerns there could be objections from both the public and MPs following calls for Mr Trump to be blocked from addressing parliament earlier this year, with MPs and peers warning the US president “does not respect democracy”.
Mr Trump accepted the invitation from King Charles for an unprecedented second state visit to the UK earlier this year, becoming the first US president to receive the honour.
But the reported decision to prevent him from addressing parliament risks angering the US president, who is thought to be keen on the idea after he was blocked from doing so on his last visit.
However, a senior White House official, who asked to remain unnamed to protect diplomatic discussions around the planned state visit, told The Independent that a speech to parliament had not been understood to be in the cards for Mr Trump’s itinerary.
“This was never expected or even discussed,” the official said.
In April, when the visit was announced, parliamentarians voiced concerns it would be “inappropriate” for him to speak in the Palace of Westminster as his predecessors Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton did.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock, who was a minister in Sir Tony Blair’s government, wrote to Lord Speaker, Lord McFall of Alcluith, warning the US president should not be allowed to address both houses of parliament “because of his attitude towards and comments about the UK, parliamentary democracy, the Nato Alliance and Ukraine”.
Meanwhile, Labour MP Kate Osborne asked Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to follow his predecessor John Bercow in blocking an address from Mr Trump.
In a letter to Sir Lindsay, she said: “I am asking you as the Speaker to agree it would be inappropriate and mirror the previous Speaker’s recommendation.
“It is of course up to our government to decide if they use the state visit to engage with Trump on a wide range of issues as above but that does not translate to giving him the honour of addressing the UK parliament, the decision of which I believe should reside with you.”
The House of Commons speaker’s office said: “Any request made to address the houses of parliament will be considered in the usual way.”
