The exchange took place at lunchtime during PMQs.
Kingston MP, Sir Ed, asked Keir Starmer to look Donald Trump “in the eye” at the State Banquet and urge him to “use his influence” to make the war in Gaza stop.
But Sir Keir replied to Sir Ed, “If he hadn’t refused the invite to the Banquet, he could be there and speak to Trump himself”.
You can listen to the exchange here.
Sir Ed has refused an invitation from King Charles to a state dinner with Donald Trump in protest over Gaza.
Sir Ed, who has been vocal in his disapproval of the US president, said he “thought and prayed long and hard” about whether to accept the invitation to the state banquet at Windsor Castle during Mr Trump’s historic second visit next month.
“I have come to the conclusion that on this occasion I must refuse,” he wrote in The Guardian.
The Lib Dem leader said it is an “enormous honour” to receive an invitation from the king, and he takes “very seriously my duty to our sovereign”.
