Politics: Trump delays his state visit to the UK until 2018 following huge protests

Senior UK government source confirms that Trump has failed to agree a date for his visit this year.

• Senior UK government source says the two countries have failed to agree a date for Trump's state visit this year.
• UK and US are now looking at potential dates in 2018.
• Trump had been due to arrive in the UK last month but delayed his visit following huge street protests.
• The President reportedly told May he does not want to come until the British public support him.

LONDON — Donald Trump's state visit to the UK has been delayed until at least 2018, a senior UK government source has confirmed.

Trump was originally scheduled for a state visit to Britain last month but it was delayed until the autumn following a series of large street protests. across the UK against his presidency.

Last night a senior UK government source told Business Insider that the two countries had been unable to agree a date for this year and were "now looking at dates next year" for a possible state visit.

They added that it was possible that Trump could jet in for a non-state visit at some point in the interim. Any visit at short notice would make it difficult for opponents to organise large-scale protests.

The potential visit gathered a wave of controversy earlier this year when the House of Commons Speaker John Bercow effectively banned the president from speaking in Parliament.

Bercow said he was not willing to allow Trump to address Parliament as his predecessors had, because of Britain's opposition to "racism and sexism."

"If a state visit takes place, that is way beyond and above the pay grade of the speaker," he said.

"However, as far as this place [the House of Commons] is concerned, I feel very strongly that our opposition to racism and to sexism and our support for equality before the law and an independent judiciary are hugely important considerations in the House of Commons."

Trump reportedly told May that he was unwilling to visit the UK while the threat of further protests remained.

A Downing Street adviser told the Guardian that the President had told May that he "does not want to go ahead with a state visit to Britain until the British public supports him coming.

"The US president said he did not want to come if there were large-scale protests."

There was no mention of a state visit in May's Queen's Speech last month, which set out all the planned state visits for the next two years.

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