UK Lib Dem leader to boycott King Charles’s banquet for Trump over Gaza genocide

UK Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has said he will not attend a banquet for President Donald Trump due to be hosted by King Charles next month, in protest at the US's continued support for Israel's brutal war on Gaza.

Davey accused the US president and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of "clos[ing] their eyes and wish[ing] this away" in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The Liberal Democrat leader, who has criticised Trump in the past, announced his boycott in an opinion piece for UK newspaper The Guardian.

The Lib Dem leader explained that he and his wife Emily had "spent all summer thinking about this” and had also "prayed about it"- saying that it was "the one way" to demonstrate his condemnation of Trump and Starmer’s failure to urgently intervene in the nearly two-year Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 62,000 people and utterly devastated the territory.

"I fear we could have a situation where Donald Trump comes to our country, is honoured with a lavish dinner at one of our finest palaces, yet no one reminds him that he has the power to stop the horrifying starvation and death in Gaza and get the hostages released," Davey wrote in The Guardian.

"If Donald Trump tells [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu to stop this, it ends tomorrow," he added.

He continued: "Boycotting the banquet is the one way I can send a message to Donald Trump and Keir Starmer that they can’t close their eyes and wish this away. We have to speak up, they have to act. Donald Trump must act to end this humanitarian crisis."

The Lib Dem leader further said that he felt "a responsibility to do whatever I can to ensure the people in Gaza are not forgotten during the pomp and ceremony" and to ensure the UK makes Trump’s "personal responsibility for securing peace in Israel and Palestine an issue."

Davey also clarified that the boycott is not about "the many other issues on which I profoundly disagree with President Trump."

He previously referred to Trump as a "bully" and accused him of "betraying Ukraine" as he moved the US to a more pro-Russia stance during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Davey’s boycott has been criticised by prominent pro-Israel Conservative figures such as shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel, who claimed that the decision showed "appalling judgment" regarding a visit from "our closest ally and security partner."

British pro-Palestine campaigners are set to launch a national demonstration against Trump’s state visit on 17 September.

UK activist Zoe Gardner praised Davey for "taking a strong moral stance that he won’t banquet with Trump" in a post on X, adding: "Trump receiving honours is honouring a genocide. We cannot let it go by without protest."

Trump and US First Lady Melania will be hosted by King Charles and Queen Camilla for the US president’s second state visit to the UK from 17 to 19 September, which will include a state banquet in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle.