King Charles will host President Trump at Windsor Castle for an unprecedented second state visit in September, a recognition of the importance of the U.S.-UK Special Relationship. This is a huge honor for the president, and a great moment for Trump’s second term.

The Sept 17-19 dates of the visit, however, fall when the House of Commons will not be sitting, thereby denying the president the opportunity to address Parliament, an honor accorded recently to French President Emmanuel Macron and previously to Barack Obama. The House of Lords will be sitting for at least part of the visit.

Strikingly, the Commons rises on Sept 16, the day before the state visit begins. The timing may well have been dictated by Downing Street officials nervous over opposition to Trump within the Labour Party, including on its own backbenches and likely within the Cabinet itself.

This is both an insult and a strategically stupid move at a time when the United States and the United Kingdom must collaborate on a range of issues, from strengthening NATO and advancing trade to ending Iran’s nuclear program. An address by President Trump to Parliament would help cement the most powerful bilateral partnership of modern times, while reinforcing the huge importance of the transatlantic alliance to both nations.

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I suspect that Sir Keir Starmer is terrified that some members of his own party would treat the Leader of the Free World disrespectfully at any address to Parliament. Labour MPs can be exceptionally rude and ill-mannered in the Commons, and any boorish behavior would be greatly embarrassing to the Prime Minister, who appears to be rapidly losing control.

Disruptive scenes during Trump’s state visit could be highly damaging to Starmer’s own position as Labour leader, and might well raise serious questions over his ability to continue as PM. If Sir Keir cannot trust his own MPs to treat the U.S. president with dignity and respect, it would be a damning indictment of his party and his own leadership.

There is also the issue of deep-seated, nasty anti-Trump sentiment within Starmer’s own Cabinet. You can imagine the howls of protest from the upper echelons of the Labour administration when the idea of a Trump speech to Parliament was discussed. This is the most Left-wing government in modern British history, and many within it are no doubt horrified by the prospect of an American president defending the idea of secure borders, national sovereignty, the deportation of illegal migrants, and the protection of freedom of speech at the very heart of Westminster.

Senior members of the British Government have been highly critical of Trump, including Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. Lammy labelled Trump a “racist KKK and Nazi sympathizer” in 2017. In 2020, Rayner attacked Trump’s “voter suppression”. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called Trump a racist misogynist in 2016. Health Secretary Wes Streeting attacked Trump in 2017 as “an odious, sad, little man. Imagine being proud to have that as your president.”

Brexit looms large in the background, too, with the Labour Government inching back into the orbit of Brussels, undermining the democratic will of 17.4 million Britons who voted to leave the European Union in 2016. Trump, meanwhile, is the biggest backer of Brexit on the world stage. His admirable Euroscepticism plays poorly with the increasingly Eurofederalist direction in which the Labour Party is moving.

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Trump is the most pro-British American president of the modern era. He adores the monarchy and the British people. He chose Brexit Britain for the first trade deal of his second term, and is giving the UK preferential treatment over the EU in avoiding heavier U.S. tariffs. The denial of an address to Parliament will appear to many in Washington as both an act of pettiness and of rampant anti-Americanism within the ruling Labour Party today.

Unlike Starmer, Trump is also a real leader, with a clear vision not only for advancing the security and prosperity of his own nation, but that of the entire free world. The contrast between the strength and seriousness of the Trump White House and the clownish amateurism of Starmer’s Downing Street could not be greater.

Perhaps that is also at the heart of the decision not to invite Trump to speak to Parliament. Starmer might fear being outclassed on his home turf by an American leader who is everything he is not, a president who projects resolve and determination, and who, refreshingly, actually stands up for his own people.

Sir Keir should do the right thing and ensure that President Trump is issued an invitation to address Parliament, with the House of Commons recalled for the occasion. Trump’s message is one that the British people deserve to hear, from a president who cherishes Britain’s great history, culture and traditions.