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Trump tells UK ‘you’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself’ in taunt over fuel oil shortages

Donald Trump has resumed his taunting of the UK, and Keir Starmer, over Britain’s Iran policy. The president (who regularly says things which are untrue) has just posted this on this Truth Social platform saying the British will “have to start learning how to fight for yourself” because the US won’t be there to help in future.

Post from Trump Photograph: Truth Social

Key events

Yvette Cooper says Israel wrong to pass law imposing death penalty on Palestinians guilty of fatal attacks

Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has criticised the Israeli parliament’s decision to a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks. In a post on social media, she says the UK issued a joint statement with Germany, France and Italy condemning the legislation before the final vote.

double quotation markMy statement with France, Germany and Italy on our united opposition to Israel’s death penalty law.

The death penalty is wrong and we oppose it around the world.

Buckingham Palace confirms king’s state visit to US going ahead next month, with Charles addressing Congress

The king’s state visit to the US is to go ahead next month as planned, Buckingham Palace has finally confirmed. The Press Association says:

double quotation markCharles and the queen’s long-expected historic trip to see Donald Trump will take place in late April despite calls for it to be postponed because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

It will be the king’s first visit to the US as monarch and the first state visit by a British sovereign to America for nearly 20 years, since Queen Elizabeth II’s tour in 2007.

Charles and Camilla will commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, attend a glittering state dinner at the White House, and the king will address Congress, the Palace confirmed.

But exact dates and details have yet to be disclosed.

Buckingham Palace said:

double quotation markOn advice of His Majesty’s government, and at the invitation of the President of the United States, the king and queen will undertake a State Visit to the United States of America.

Their Majesties’ programme will celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of American Independence.

The king will then continue to Bermuda to undertake His Majesty’s first Royal Visit as Monarch to a British Overseas Territory.

Greenpeace UK criticise Reform UK’s pledge to get rid of air passenger duty

Greenpeace UK has criticised Reform UK for proposing to get rid of air passenger duty. (See 11.23am.) Lily-Rose Ellis, a climate campaigner for Greenpeace, said:

double quotation markAs Trump’s war causes price spikes and flight cancellations, it won’t surprise anyone to see Farage rush to point the finger at taxes. This policy fits perfectly with Reform’s brand of rightwing populism, which seems surprisingly closely aligned to the commercial interests of their wealthy donors and the sleaze we saw from the last government.

Not only does Christopher Harborne, the UK’s biggest political donor who gave Reform £12m in the last financial year, sell aviation fuel, but Heathrow gave Reform £36,000 last year too.

The idea that this is the party that is going to take on the elites in defence of the common man is transparent nonsense, they’re the Tory plan B, with the same policies, the same scapegoats, the same rhetoric, the same donors and the same MPs.

Zack Polanski says Greens could be ‘kingmakers’ in Senedd after election because they are likely to hold balance of power

Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, has said that his party could be the “kingmakers” in the Senedd after the election because they are likely to hold the balance of power.

Speaking at the launch of his party’s campaign in Wales, Polanski said:

double quotation markThe Greens could be the kingmakers at this election.

What does that mean? That means we know there will be a new government in Cardiff Bay.

What the colour of that government looks like, and the mix is ultimately up to the voters, but we’re being very clear – every single Green that is elected to the Senedd will be a Green in those negotiations.

A YouGov MRP poll released last week suggests that Plaid Cymru will be the biggest party in the Senedd after the election (with 43 seats), but that to have a majority (49 seats) it will need the support of either Labour (on 12 seats, the poll predicts) or the Greens (10 seats).

These figures seem to imply that a Plaid/Labour deal of some sort would be just as appealing to Plaid as a Plaid/Green deal.

But Plaid are closer to the Greens on policy than they are to Labour. Even though Plaid has in the past been in coalition with Labour, and supported Labour in a cooperation deal, there is some acrimony in the relationship. And Plaid are promising “change” after 27-years of Labour-led government since devolution, and governing with Labour would make them look more like a continuity administration.

Anthony Slaughter, leader of the Greens in Wales, said Green MSs would be deciding the direction of the next Welsh government and said the party was “already shifting” Plaid Cymru’s position on some policy matters.

Left to right: Green Party leader Zack Polanski, Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter and Senedd candidate Tessa Marshall at the launch of the Wales Green Party election campaign at West Canal Wharf in Cardiff. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Trump tells UK ‘you’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself’ in taunt over fuel oil shortages

Post from Trump Photograph: Truth Social

Streeting claims deal with BMA to avert resident doctors’ strike still possible

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has insisted that a deal with the BMA to avert the resident doctors’s strike in England is still possible. In a post on social media responding to the BMA’s reaction to the PM’s article about the strike (see 9.36am), Streeting said:

double quotation markThe BMA seems surprised that if they reject the deal on offer and go on strike their members don’t get what the Government is offering.

We have time before Easter weekend to resolve this dispute.

A deal on jobs and pay is on the table.

Trump ‘not dictating policy to me’, says Farage

At the end of his press conference Nigel Farage was asked if he was worried that his association with Donald Trump would hurt him electorally.

Farage said that he could not pretend not to know Trump. He said he admired some of the things Trump had done, on the border and on energy policy in particular. There were other things Trump had done that he did not agree with, he said, without specifying what. He went on:

double quotation markHe is not dictating policy to me. I’m dictating policy to me.

Farage said he also thought close links between the UK and the US were “absolutely vital”.

Farage says he’s opposed to youth mobility deal with EU, claiming it’s ‘just attempt to completely undo Brexit’

Q: [From the Guardian] Would you keep the youth mobility scheme that the government is negotiating with the EU, or would you repeal it?

Farage says he does not support the proposals because “this will always be one way traffic”. He says there will be three or four times as many Europeans coming to Britain as Britons going to Europe.

There are more exciting parts of the world for young British people to visit, he says. “Europe isn’t actually very sexy any more,” he says.

He says the Spanish made a “catastrophic error” by granting an amnesty to migrants in the country illegally. He goes on:

double quotation markWe are living in an age of increased global insecurity where national borders and protecting national interests matters more and more. And I think the youth mobility scheme falls at that first hurdle, if at nothing else.

And it’s just an attempt by the government to completely undo Brexit.

And Jenrick says, instead of letting young European people come to the UK to work, the government should be prioritising finding jobs for British people.

Q: Are you worried that Reform UK’s support is mainly coming from older people, not younger people?

Farage does not accept this. He claims the polling shows that his party’s support among young people is almost as high as it is amongst voters as a whole.

double quotation markAnd by the way, if [Labour] do lower the vote to 16, the Greens will do very well. We will do well and Labour will do terribly.

Farage rejects claim election candidate controversies mean Reform UK’s vetting procedures flawed

Q: Do you think Reform UK’s candidate vetting processes have been inadequate, given that a candidate in Wales has had to stand down after a picture emerged of him giving a Nazi salute?

Farage defends the party’s vetting process.

double quotation markWe vet people. We ask them to tell us the truth. We asked them for their social media handles. We do all those things.

Sometimes people lie to you and they might be using social media handles that you have no way of finding.

He says a Plaid Cymru candidate has already stood down, and he predicts the party will have more problems with candidates.

This is a problem for all parties. He goes on:

double quotation markI think we’re dealing with it as effectively, if not more effectively, than the others.

(The questioner did not ask about Scotland, where five Reform candidates have already stood down or been suspended.)

Farage says he thinks Keir Starmer has been right to adopt a tough position with the BMA over the proposed resident doctors’ strike. He says:

double quotation markUnusually Keir Starmer has taken a strong position. There’s a first time for everything I suppose.

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Trump tells UK ‘you’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself’ in taunt over fuel oil shortages

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