Helena Morrissey attended Trump dinner 'to engage with US'

Theresa May and her husband, Philip, greet Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, at Blenheim Palace. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Dame Helena Morrissey, one of Britain’s most high-profile women in finance, said she went to a business dinner with Donald Trump during his working visit to the UK because it was “important to engage” with the US.

Morrissey, the head of personal investment at Legal & General, attended the black-tie event for business leaders at Blenheim Palace, hosted by Theresa May, on 12 July. She was among 150 guests, who dined on smoked salmon, steaks and strawberries.

In an interview with Sky News, Morrissey said: “It was a constructive thing to do. I understand why there were protests but I do believe that we need to be discussing these issues rather than hoping they will go away.”

Dame Helena Morrissey says she understands why there were protests over Donald Trump’s visit but ‘we need to be discussing these issues rather than hoping they go away’. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Guests included the chief executives of FTSE 100 firms such as Rolls-Royce, Barclays and BP, as well as Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, but some business leaders were absent, notably Sir Richard Branson and Lord Sugar, who have had high-profile spats with the US president in recent years.

Morrissey said it was a “slightly surreal” experience – “like attending a wedding with lots of waiting around” – and noted she was one of few women, although she thought “that was more of a reflection on the lack of women in senior roles in business in this country rather than any sort of protest”.

She added: “I went because it’s very important that we engage. We engage with companies that we don’t agree with everything they are doing. It’s important that we engage with politicians and countries, particularly the US, which is such an important trading partner for the UK.”

Trump’s visit, which led to widespread demonstrations, came as UK and European firms grapple with the fallout from US trade tariffs on steel and aluminium. The US president also provoked controversy when he told the Sun newspaper that May’s Chequers Brexit plan would make a trade deal with the US impossible but later rowed back.

Talking about the trade dispute between the US and Europe, Morrissey said business dinners like the one with Trump were all about “setting out your stall” and relationship building, showing off Britain’s “fantastic” technology, defence and financial and professional services.