JD Vance questions UK's Palestinian statehood plan

US Vice-President JD Vance has raised questions about the UK's plans to recognise a Palestinian state, in a meeting with Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

The UK has said it will formally recognise a Palestinian state in September if Israel does not meet certain conditions.

But US President Donald Trump has not followed suit and believes that recognising Palestinian statehood would be rewarding Hamas.

The difference in approach to the war in Gaza is among the issues being discussed by Vance and Lammy at the foreign secretary's official country residence, Chevening House, in Kent on Friday.

Speaking alongside Lammy, Vance said: "The United Kingdom is going to make its decision.

"We have no plans to recognise a Palestinian state.

"I don't know what it would mean to really recognise a Palestinian state – given the lack of a functional government there."

The vice-president said the US administration wanted to see Hamas eradicated so Israeli civilians were not attacked again, but also to solve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Vance said while the UK and US shared focus and goals, there were "disagreements" which would be discussed at Chevening.

Lammy said he was concerned about Israel's intention to take over more of Gaza.

The foreign secretary said: "What we all want to see is a ceasefire – what we all want to see are the hostages come out.

"We are hugely concerned by the humanitarian suffering that we are seeing in Gaza particularly."

Striking a warm tone, Vance spoke of his love for England and praised his "good friend" the foreign secretary.

He said Britain and the US should work together to "bring greater peace" to the world as the two countries "have a lot in common".

The pair are meeting for talks at the residence during Vance's family holiday to the UK.

The two men went carp fishing in a pond near the 17th century house on Friday morning. Vance said he and his children caught fish but Lammy did not.

"Unfortunately, the one strain on the special relationship is that all of my kids caught fish, but the foreign secretary did not," the vice-president said.

The Vance family is expected to spend most of their break in the Cotswolds and are also planning to visit Scotland.

Vance and Lammy went fishing for carp at Chevening's lake before their meeting

Lammy and Vance have been meeting regularly on official trips since the foreign secretary started in his role last year, and they have bonded over their difficult childhoods and shared Christian faith.

But Vance has been critical of the UK over free-speech issues.

In a speech in February, Vance accused European governments - including the UK's - of retreating from their values, and ignoring voter concerns on migration and free speech.

He claimed that a "backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons" under threat, and attacked the use of laws to enforce buffer zones around abortion clinics.

When asked about those criticisms, he said his concerns related more widely to "the entire collective West".

Vance said: "Obviously, I've raised some criticism and concerns about our friends on this side of the Atlantic, but the thing that I say to the people of England, or anybody else, to David, is many of the things that I worry most about were happening in the United States from 2020 to 2024.

"I just don't want other countries to follow us down what I think is a very dark path under the Biden administration."

The other major area for discussion this weekend is Ukraine and the possibility of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss the conflict.

Lammy has insisted there can't be talks unless there is a ceasefire to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

What Lammy, and other European nations, fear is that Putin will seek to use Trump to force terms on Ukraine without its presence at the table, and in a way that seriously undermines Europe's security.

The vice president's UK visit comes a few weeks after Trump travelled to Scotland, on a private visit to his golf courses.

Trump met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as well as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, agreeing a trade deal with the bloc, and will return for a full state visit in September.

Chevening House dates back nearly 400 years and is set in its own grounds

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