John Bercow’s snub to Donald Trump by refusing him an invite to Parliament risks damaging the special relationship, warn critics amid anger at ‘biased’ speaker
Commons Speaker John Bercow has been told that Donald Trump must be allowed to address Parliament this summer – or risk damaging the special relationship.Britain and the US are preparing for a state visit in June to coincide with the 75th anniversary of D-Day.But Mr Bercow is continuing to refuse to extend the traditional courtesy of asking the President to address both Houses of Parliament.His decision has angered US officials and become an embarrassment to the Government as it attempts to stage a state visit three years after it was first offered by the Prime Minister.
Defence minister Tobias Ellwood said the UK should ‘leverage’ Mr Trump’s state visit and give him the chance to formally address Parliament.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph he said: ‘D-Day represents the bedrock of our international relationships.‘As we pay tribute to a generation of lives to defend our values, we can reaffirm our commitment to our allies and most crucially the US to defend those same values once again under threat.
‘The special relationship matters. It is greater than any one individual. So we should leverage the US president’s state visit, including the opportunity formally to address Parliament.’
Source: dailymail
