Around half of British people believe it was wrong to invite Donald Trump to the UK for his unprecedented second state visit, polling has revealed.
Some 45% of Britons said it was the wrong move for Sir Keir Starmer to invite Mr Trump for the ceremonial visit, the latest polling by YouGov shows.
By contrast, 30% think it was right to invite him, with the remaining 25% saying they do not know, according to research conducted with 2,145 people on Sunday and Monday.
The US president touched down in the UK on Tuesday night, before arriving at Windsor Castle to meet the royal family for a lavish banquet on Wednesday.
When divided along political party lines, Green voters are most adamant Mr Trump should not have been invited (70%), followed by Lib Dem voters (64%), and Labour voters (62%).
Tory voters were more split, but a larger number (46%) believed he should not be invited, than those who should (37%).
Reform voters strongly believe it was right to invite him for a second state visit, with 64% of them saying so, compared to 17% against.
According to the polling, a majority of 71% of Britons think it is important for the UK to maintain positive relations with the Trump government.
But just over half of those surveyed, 51%, think that the visit will not make much of a difference when it comes to improving relations between Britain and the US.
British people are by and large divided over Sir Keir’s approach to Mr Trump: 31% think he has been too positive towards the US president and should do more to criticise him, compared with 27% who think he has got the balance right.
Some 13% meanwhile think he has been too critical of the US leader.
Sir Keir’s relationship with Mr Trump has resulted in better treatment for the UK, according to 29% of those surveyed, while 38% believe their rapport has not made any real impact on the US approach towards Britain.
Most Britons think the Trump presidency has been bad for the UK: with 26% saying it has had a fairly negative impact, and a further 27% saying it has had a very negative impact.
Reform voters are an outlier group however, the largest proportion of whom, 44%, say Mr Trump’s time in power has had no impact on the UK.
Similarly, while most of those surveyed (52%) said it would be a very bad thing for the British Government to be more like Mr Trump’s administration, Reform voters were more positive about his approach.
Some 34% of Reform voters said a Trumpian approach to Government would be a very good thing, with a further 34% saying it would be fairly good.
