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Davey to boycott state banquet for Trump over Gaza
The Guardian
|August 28, 2025
The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, is to boycott King Charles's state banquet held in honour of Donald Trump to protest against the US president's failure to intervene decisively to end the war in Gaza.
Davey, who was invited to the dinner for Trump's state visit to the UK, said to turn down an invitation from King Charles "goes against all of my instincts" and that it was a deeply serious move to refuse to attend.
But he said he feared that unless he took a stand over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the lack of pressure on Israel from the US government, no one would raise the issue during the president's visit in late September.
Davey said: "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 Donald Trump and Keir Starmer that they cannot close their eyes and wish this away."
This story is from the August 28, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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