Labour politicians normally at least make it across the Atlantic before being rebuffed. However, Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, has had to call off a trip to the US designed to present Jeremy Corbyn’s party as a government in waiting before even boarding a plane.
Diplomatic sources suggested Ms Thornberry, an outspoken critic of President Trump, had hoped to line up a series of meetings with figures in his administration. A Whitehall source said: “It became clear pretty quickly that the White House wasn’t especially keen to meet them. Can’t think why.” In the past fortnight she has described Mr Trump as a “racist” and an “asteroid of awfulness”.
Labour has also led criticism of the decision to invite the president to Britain for a state visit.
Ms Thornberry had been due to travel to the US in mid-February, during the Commons recess. She planned to meet United Nations agencies in New York before travelling to Washington. A Labour source denied there were any plans for meetings with Trump administration figures, and said Ms Thornberry had hoped to build contacts with other powerbrokers.
Ms Thornberry has repeatedly described Labour as a “government in waiting” and a high-profile trip to the US would be seen as a way of cementing her position as a soon-to-be foreign secretary.
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Less than special
• Neil Kinnock flew to Washington before the 1987 election, but got less than 30 minutes before Ronald Reagan ended the meeting.
• In March 2009 Gordon Brown bore thoughtful gifts to Barack Obama, including a pen holder made from the timbers of a Victorian anti-slavery ship. He got 25 DVDs which only worked in the US.
• In April 2016 Jeremy Corbyn met President Obama. In December Mr Obama suggested Labour was not “grounded in fact and reality”.