Trump's visit: Labour calls US president 'sexual predator' and 'racist' – live news

Well, at least one person is happy about Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK. This is what the US president was saying last night after visiting Buckingham Palace for lunch with the Queen.

His reference to the “tremendous crowds” will surprise anyone who was in London or watching the news yesterday and the White House has not tweeted any pictures of these huge crowds of Trump fans – probably for the obvious reason that they they don’t exist. (Some of the time yesterday, even for relatively short journeys, Trump was being whisked across the capital by helicopter – like a senior politician visiting a war zone – and even when he was driving by car, the police kept the pavements clear out of fear that his convoy might get the milkshake treatment, or worse.) Still, why let the facts etc etc. You can tell from the pictures being tweeted by the White House why Trump, who is said to aspire to be treated like a monarch, was so grateful to get a warm reception from a real one.

Today we get the political side of the state visit, with Trump going to Downing Street for talks with Theresa May and a press conference. Given that May will be out of office within a few weeks, it is hard to see the point, and Trump might have been better advised to spend his time talking to Boris Johnson, the clear favourite to succeed her. (It is still not clear whether or not Trump will meet Johnson during the downtime available in his schedule.) But even if the talks are stilted, the press conference is unlikely to be dull.

And, while Trump is meeting May, thousands of people are expected to be nearby in London protesting against him. They will include Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, who also chose to boycott last night’s state dinner. This morning Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, told the Today programme why Corbyn, who would be having to deal with Trump as prime minister if an early general election led to a Labour government, was taking this stance. She said:

A state visit is an honour and we don’t think this president deserves an honour. The truth is he has tried to close borders with Muslim-majority countries, he is caging small Mexican children, he has grabbed women and boasted about it. He is a sexual predator, he is a racist and it’s right to say that – we need to think about when is it our country got so scared?

Thornberry also explained why Corbyn refused to go to a state dinner for Trump while he attended one for the president of China, a country with a far, far worse human rights record than the US. She said:

When you have a close friend and they’re going wrong, you are more likely to be adamant with them and clearer with them than someone who has not been as close a friend and someone you are trying to build a relationship up with.

She said Trump needed to be stood up to “like the way you deal with a bully” because “if you bow down in front of them you just get kicked harder”.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9am: Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons and a Tory leadership candidates, holds a phone-in on LBC.

9.20am: President Trump is due to arrive at Buckingham Palace. He will then go to St James Palace for a meeting with business leaders.

9.30am: Penny Mordaunt, the defence secretary, speaks at the RUSI thinktank.

11am: Jeremy Corbyn is among those speaking at the anti-Trump demonstration starting in Trafalgar Square. Anti-Trump protests are also taking place in other cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. Between 10am and 12pm the Trump blimp will be flying over Parliament Square.

11.20am: Trump is due to arrive at Downing Street for talks with Theresa May and other ministers. There will then be a working lunch.

1.45pm: Trump and May hold a press conference.

7pm: Tory leadership candidates Sajid Javid, Boris Johnson, Kit Malthouse and Andrea Leadsom are due to speak at a private hustings in the Commons organised by the One Nation group of Tory MPs.

Evening: Trump hosts a dinner for May and other British dignitaries at Winfield House, the US ambassador’s residence. The Prince of Wales will represent the Queen.

And at some point today the executive of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee will meet to discuss changing the rules to reduce the number of contenders in the Tory leadership contest.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I will be focusing mostly on the Trump visit and the press conference. I plan to post a summary at the end of the day.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

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