Emily Thornberry is the latest figure to call on the king’s visit to the US to be delayed, citing the ongoing war against Iran
Good morning. Keir Starmer is chairing cabinet this morning, and government business is still dominate by foreign policy. Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, is in the Commons later where she will give an update on the UK’s response to the US-Israeli war against Iran, doubtless firming up the line set out by Starmer yesterday.
And Starmer himself is meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, and Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general.
European leaders are not enthusiastic about fighting Tehran, but they are very committed to supporting Ukraine, and alarmed that about the only country that has gained from the Iran war at no cost is Russia. This is bound to come up this afternoon.
Starmer has largely resisted the temptation to hit back at Trump’s endless provocations, which escalated yesterday when the president accused the PM of dithering and being over-reliant on his advisers. But this morning Starmer is being encouraged to engage in some soft power retaliation – by cancelling the king’s state visit to the US planned for next month.
