The UK’s Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey will boycott a state banquet for Donald Trump when the US President visits the UK next month, in protest against his position on Gaza.
Mr Davey announced that he would decline an invitation to the dinner, becoming one of the most senior politicians in the UK to directly challenge Mr Trump on the issue.
Speaking on Thursday, Mr Davey said Mr Trump was the one person who could stop the war in Gaza due to his influence over Israel and Middle East states, and the issue needed to be raised when he is in Britain.
The US President will make his second state visit to the UK from September 17 to 19, which will include a banquet at St George’s Hall in Windsor Castle.
Mr Davey said he and his wife Emily had “spent all summer thinking about this” and had “prayed about it”, before deciding it was “the one way” to send a message to both Mr Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“We need to put pressure on [Mr Trump],” Mr Davey told the BBC. After a summer of seeing “horrendous images of children starving and emaciated hostages”, the “horrific” situation had gone on far too long, he said.
If a ceasefire is to be achieved, aid brought into Gaza, and hostages released “the one person who can make it happen is Trump”, he said.
He said: “There is no honour like an invitation from the King, and not to accept his invitation goes against all of our instincts.
“But I fear we could have a situation where Donald Trump comes to our country, is honoured with a lavish dinner at one of our finest palaces, yet no one reminds him that he has the power to stop the horrifying starvation and death in Gaza and get the hostages released.
“If Donald Trump tells [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu to stop this, it ends tomorrow. If Donald Trump uses his influence over Qatar and the other Gulf states that Hamas relies on, all the hostages could come home tomorrow.”
Mr Davey has criticised the recent decision by the UK government to proscribe the activist group Palestine Action, which has led to hundreds of people being arrested at rallies after showing support.
He called for a review of the law because people were being arrested “en masse”, although he agreed Palestine Action had committed criminal acts and “are a very worrying organisation”.
The Lib Dems had abstained from the decision to proscribe Palestine Action “because we didn’t think the government had made that case”, Mr Davey said.
Mr Trump has offered mixed signals on Israel’s war in Gaza. He has called for an end to the conflict and to the “real starvation” in the territory while rejecting calls to recognise a Palestinian state and proposing to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and redevelop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
The UN last week confirmed that Gaza city was suffering a famine. Israel was also accused of killing five journalists and 15 others in a strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza on Monday.
Mr Davey added: “Boycotting the banquet is the one way I can send a message to Donald Trump and Keir Starmer that they can’t close their eyes and wish this away.
“We have to speak up. They have to act. Donald Trump must act to end this humanitarian crisis.”
Mr Trump’s first state banquet was snubbed in 2019 by then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, then-Lib Dem leader Vince Cable, then-SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford and Commons speaker John Bercow.
The US President’s upcoming UK trip makes him one of the few world leaders to be invited for two state visits.
The honour is usually reserved for monarchs, with Queen Margrethe II of Denmark the last person to make a second state visit in 2000, although French president Raymond Poincare made two state visits in the early 20th century.
Details of Mr Trump’s visit are still to be announced, but it will not include an address to Parliament as the Lords and Commons are not sitting while he is in the country.
Company%20profile
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
Results
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Reem Baynounah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Afham, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Haqeeqy, Dane O’Neill, John Hyde.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
