U.S. Vice President JD Vance was due to meet with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday to discuss the U.S.-U.K. relationship ahead of the two men and their families spending time together at Lammy’s official country residence south of London. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
U.S. Vice President JD Vance was due to hold talks Friday with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the start of Vance’s summer family vacation to England.
Lammy was expected to host Vance at his 17th-century official country residence just outside London at Chevening House in Kent to discuss Anglo-American ties before being joined by their families for a get-together.
Confirming the meeting, the White House said in a statement that the vice president and the foreign secretary would “discuss a variety of topics pertaining to the U.S.-U.K. relationship.”
The meeting comes as the stances of the Labour government Lammy serves and the Trump administration on key foreign policy areas have been moving in opposite directions, particularly over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Palestinian statehood and Israel’s plan to occupy the Palestinian territory in its entirety.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the decision by the Israeli cabinet overnight to take over all of Gaza, saying it would not hasten the end of the conflict nor the release of the hostages and would achieve “only more bloodshed.”
Differences have also emerged on Ukraine.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called on Lammy to push the administration not to wait for a planned meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin before implementing sanctions it had threatened if Russia failed to agree to a cease-fire by Friday.
“We’ve been here before: Putin stalling and trying to curry favour with Trump through promises of a cease-fire — before rocking Ukraine with even more bombs,” said Davy.
Conservative Vance and left-leaning Lammy are said to have formed an unlikely friendship after meeting numerous times on official business and in part due to the difficult backgrounds and strong Christian faith they share in common.
Lammy was said to be reciprocating hospitality extended by Vance after he invited Lammy to attend a mass at his Observatory Circle residence in Washington in March by inviting the Vance family to stay at Chevening.
The Vances will travel on to the Cotswolds, northwest of London, where they are expected to spend most of their private family holiday, apart from a planned excursion to Hampton Court Palace, home of King Henry VIII.
“I’ve met him now on several occasions, we share a similar working-class background with addiction issues in our family. We’ve written books on that, we’ve talked about that, and we’re both Christians. So I think I can find common ground with JD Vance,” Lammy told the BBC in July 2024, days after the Labour administration swept to power in a general election.
