LONDON: A UK opposition party leader will boycott a banquet thrown by King Charles during Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain next month over the US president’s stance on the war in Gaza.
Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey said he wants to send a “strong message” by declining the invitation to the lavish dinner.
Trump is due to visit the UK from September 17 to 19 for an unprecedented second state visit, which will include a banquet thrown in his honor by the king.
“I feel a responsibility to do whatever I can to ensure the people in Gaza are not forgotten during the pomp and ceremony,” Davey, leader of the third largest party in parliament, wrote in The Guardian on Wednesday.
“Boycotting the state banquet is not something I ever wanted to do, but I believe it is the only way I can send a message to both Trump and (UK Prime Minister Keir) Starmer that they cannot close their eyes and wish this away,” he added.
“I have come to the conclusion that on this occasion I must refuse.”
The opposition Conservative party criticized the decision as “an act of deep disrespect.”
But Davey told BBC Radio 4 on Thursday “no disrespect is meant to the king.”
Starmer presented the personal invitation from Charles to a delighted Trump during a visit to Washington in February.
The US leader’s 2019 state visit was marred by large protests, and demonstrations are already planned for the forthcoming trip.
Several politicians, including then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, also boycotted Trump’s state dinner at Buckingham Palace in 2019.
UK party leader to boycott Trump state dinner over Gaza
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UK party leader to boycott Trump state dinner over Gaza
- A UK opposition party leader will boycott a banquet thrown by King Charles during Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain next month over the US president’s stance on the war in Gaza
Russia hits Ukraine with drones, missiles, kills at least 10 in Kharkiv
- Zelensky said that Russia launched 480 drones and 29 missiles targeting the energy sector and railway infrastructure
- “There should be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life“
KHARKIV, Ukraine: Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight on Saturday, damaging infrastructure and killing at least 10 people, including two children, in the northeast city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia launched 480 drones and 29 missiles targeting the energy sector and railway infrastructure across the country.
“There should be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life,” Zelensky said on the Telegram app.
“Russia has not abandoned its attempts to destroy Ukraine’s residential and critical infrastructure, and therefore support should continue,” Zelensky said, urging partners to continue air defense and weapons supplies.
Ukrainian air defense units shot down 453 drones and 19 missiles, the air force said. But nine missiles and 26 attack drones hit 22 sites, it said.
BALLISTIC MISSILE SLAMS INTO RESIDENTIAL BUILDING
The city of Kharkiv was targeted by both Russian drones and missiles, and 10 people, including two children, were killed after a Russian ballistic missile slammed into a five-story residential building, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
“When we arrived here 20 minutes after the explosion, I thought I was going to have a stroke. I couldn’t string two words together, and my legs were buckling,” Hanna, a resident of the destroyed building, told Reuters.
“It’s good that I wasn’t there with my child and that my father was with me. It was ordinary people who lived there. What were they targeting?“
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces carried out massive overnight strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial complexes, military airfields and energy facilities, the Interfax news agency reported.
In Kharkiv, 15 people were also wounded, and 19 residential buildings were damaged by the Russian attacks, Syniehubov said.
Commercial and administrative buildings, electricity distribution lines, and cars were also hit, he said.
In Kyiv, three people were injured, and the heating was knocked out in 2,806 residential apartment buildings in four districts across the capital after Russian strikes hit an energy infrastructure facility, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
National grid operator Ukrenergo said that emergency power cuts were introduced in seven regions following the Russian attacks.
Ukrainian officials said that Russia also attacked four railway stations and other railway infrastructure in central Ukraine and port infrastructure in the southern Odesa region, setting on fire containers with vegetable oil and damaging a grain warehouse.










