Starmer Cancels Meeting With Bangladesh Interim Leader – Guido Fawkes

EXC: Starmer Cancels Meeting With Bangladesh Interim Leader

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Guido pointed out this morning that the UK government has been strangely quiet on a mooted meeting with Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus. Yunus is in the UK this week: 9 – 13 June and Bangladeshi officials said a face-to-face with the PM would take place. Guido hears Starmer will not in fact meet him…

Yunus is meeting King Charles – whom he knows well – to receive the prestigious “Harmony Award 2025” at St James’s Palace on Thursday. It is extremely irregular for a meeting with our PM to be swerved on the UK side…

When Yunus entered power as interim leader last year this is what the UK government said:

“UK government warmly welcomes the appointment of H.E Professor Yunus and the interim government. The interim government has the UK’s full support as it works to restore peace and order, ensure accountability and promote national reconciliation.”

Starmer said as much in a letter to Yunus. Why then are they not meeting?

Recent internal political chatter has been focussed on intense nervousness with regard to any meeting mentioning Tulip Siddiq. Yunus has previously discussed a possible extradition of Siddiq, who is facing charges in Bangladesh…

Siddiq herself denies all wrongdoing. The Awami League party of Tulip’s aunt the ousted dictator Sheikh Hasina has written to Downing Street to express their displeasure at reports a meeting was on the cards. Starmer met with senior Awami League figures just months ago. This ongoing scandal raises extremely serious implications for the UK’s ability to conduct international diplomacy effectively…