Corbyn accused of hypocrisy as he snubs Trump state banquet
JEREMY CORBYN has been accused of “staggering hypocrisy” after he turned down an invitation to a state banquet for Donald Trump, despite a track record of meeting terrorists and extremists.
The Labour leader became the first leader of the opposition to snub a state visit by a US president, criticising the Prime Minister for “rolling out the red carpet” and “kowtowing” to Washington.
Mr Corbyn claimed Mr Trump was unworthy of a state banquet hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, saying he ripped up “vital international treaties”, backed “climate change denial” and engaged in “racist and misogynistic rhetoric”.
Mr Corbyn’s stance provoked a backlash last night, as MPS highlighted his track record of meeting figures associated with the IRA, Hamas, Hizbollah and other extremist groups. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, described the decision as “quite extraordinary”, adding that Mr Corbyn had happily attended a state banquet for China’s President Xi Jinping in 2015.
He said: “Given the people he has broken bread with … I think it’s a level of hypocrisy that is really quite staggering, especially when you see what the Chinese government is doing to the Uighur Muslim population.”
Tobias Ellwood, the defence minister, said: “Our critical working relationship, cooperation and influence with the US is bigger than any individual. Given the ever more complex and diverse challenges our nations face, opportunities directly to lobby one of the most influential people in the world, representing the nation we are most closely aligned with, should not be missed. Yet Corbyn insists on shouting from afar.”
Hours earlier, John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, was accused of showing disrespect to the Queen when he too rejected the invitation to the banquet at Buckingham Palace on Monday, June 3.
In 2017, Mr Bercow said that he would veto Mr Trump addressing Parliament as he
‘Maintaining an important relationship with the US does not require the pomp and ceremony of a state visit’
was “strongly opposed”, citing “opposition to racism and sexism”. Sir Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, also declined the invitation.
Mr Corbyn has spent his political career stressing the need for dialogue, and when challenged on his past affiliations in 2017, argued that “you have to talk to people with whom you don’t agree”.
Since the Eighties, he has held meetings in Parliament with Martin Mcguinness, the former IRA commander, and Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Fein leader. He has also dined with Khaled Mashal, head of the Palestinian fundamentalists Hamas, and described Hizbollah as “friends”. He has championed dictators including Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Cuba’s Fidel Castro.
When Mr Xi visited Britain, Mr Corbyn had a 30-minute meeting with him and was pictured smiling and shaking hands, despite concerns about Chinese human rights abuses. He said yesterday: “Maintaining an important relationship with the United States does not require the pomp and ceremony of a state visit. It is disappointing that the Prime Minister has again opted to kowtow to this US administration.”
However, in a move likely to anger royal courtiers, he said he would welcome the opportunity to meet Mr Trump to discuss “matters of interest”.
The banquet is an integral part of any state visit and is traditionally attended by senior politicians and dignitaries.