JD Vance and David Lammy underlined the Special Relationship today despite tensions over Gaza and Ukraine.
Mr Lammy and the US vice-president showed off their fishing skills at the Chevening country retreat.
Mr Vance joked that he and his children had managed catches at a carp lake on the 17th Century estate – but the Foreign Secretary had not. ‘I caught a few actually… I don’t want to brag but we did OK,’ he said.
The pair are said to have bonded over their difficult childhoods and Christian faith, despite starkly different political outlooks.
However, there was a flash of mounting friction over the UK’s vow to recognise Palestine as a state.
Answering questions in the opulent drawing room, Mr Vance stressed the US had ‘no plans’ to do the same, adding that he did not know ‘what it would mean’ as there is no functional government.
Mr Lammy insisted that both powers were looking for a solution to the long-running crisis.
Keir Starmer this morning condemned an Israeli plan to take control of Gaza City, warning of more ‘bloodshed’.
Mr Vance is beginning a holiday in the UK with his family – who have also joined the gathering at Chevening.
Mr Lammy and the US vice-president showed off their fishing skills at the Foreign Secretary’s Chevening country retreat
The pair looked to be enjoying themselves as they cast lines into the pond today
Mr Lammy is hosting at his country retreat of Chevening
Answering questions in the opulent drawing room, Mr Vance stressed the US had ‘no plans’ to recognise Palestin, adding that he did not know ‘what it would mean’ as there is no functional government
Mr Lammy is reported to have attended Mass at the vice-president’s Washington residence during a visit in March, and now plans to repay the favour with the stay at Chevening.
Built in the 17th century, Grade I-listed Chevening was previously the home of the earls of Stanhope, before it was gifted to the state in 1959.
It has traditionally acted as the foreign secretary’s country residence, but the prime minister can nominate any of his cabinet colleagues to use the house.
Israel is certain to be on the agenda, after Benjamin Netanyahu suggested an expansion of the campaign in Gaza.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also reportedly set to meet Donald Trump in the coming days.
The US and UK have found themselves at odds on Gaza, with Keir Starmer’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire drawing criticism from Washington.
On Ukraine, Mr Trump said on a visit to the UK last month that he would bring forward the deadline for Mr Putin to agree a ceasefire or face higher tariffs to Friday.
But speaking in the White House overnight the US president would not commit to taking action when the deadline expires, saying only that it was ‘up to’ Mr Putin.
Kremlin officials claimed that a meeting between the US and Russian presidents had been agreed and could take place as early as next week, despite Moscow showing no sign of relenting in its attacks on Ukraine.
The vice-president and his family are also expected to visit Hampton Court Palace.
Mr Vance has caused controversy with some of his remarks about Britain, including a claim that a ‘backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons’ under threat.
Mr Vance made the remarks in February as he raised concerns over a legal case in which a man who silently prayed outside an abortion clinic was convicted of breaching the safe zone around the centre.
He has also suggested the UK is a ‘truly Islamist’ country – a characterisation that was later dismissed by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner – and railed against what he described as ‘infringements on free speech’ in Britain.
Security was high at the estate in Kent today as the US Vice President prepared to descend
There was a small protest near Chevening ahead of the visit by Mr Vance
Keir Starmer warned of ‘more bloodshed’ and urged Benjamin Netanyahu to reconsider after the dramatic announcement overnight
The move approved by Mr Netanyahu’s war cabinet stops short of fully taking over all of Gaza
More recently the vice-president has appeared to take aim at Britain’s international standing as well as its home affairs.
As the UK and France led European efforts to secure a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, he questioned the level of security that could be offered by ‘some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years’.
He later denied he had been referring to either the UK or France after facing a furious backlash from British politicians and ex-soldiers.
‘I don’t even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond,’ he said of the remarks made in a Fox News interview in March.
The sprawling £8,000-a-week Cotswolds manor house where JD Vance will enjoy his ‘British MAGA summer’
JD Vance is renting a sprawling Cotswolds manor house a mile away from Jeremy Clarkson‘s Diddly Squat farm – just months after they exchanged an angry war of words over Britian’s military capability.
The US Vice President opted for a quintessential British summer holiday with his family and is renting the enormous property in Oxfordshire for £8,000 a week, we can reveal.
Located in a tiny hamlet and set behind a 15 feet high stone wall with six acres of sprawling gardens, the home is perfect for a private getaway.
Yet he may be in for an awkward encounter if he runs into the former Top Gear, who previously labelled him a ‘t***’ who has ‘no clue about history’.
Clarkson slammed Vance after Donald Trump‘s deputy described the UK as ‘some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years’.
His comments discrediting the efforts of British soldiers who fought with the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan came when discussing how the West could tackle the threat of Russia.
Writing in his column in The Sunday Times at the time, Clarkson hit back: ‘Now I don’t want to stoop to his level, but I’m going to.
‘Vance is a bearded God-botherer who pretty much thinks that women who’ve been raped should be forced to have the resultant child.
JD Vance is renting this sprawling Cotswolds manor house a mile away from Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm
JD Vance meets with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Rome in May this year
The house is just miles from Jeremy Clarkson’s (pictured) Diddly Squat farm. The former Top Gear previously labelled Vance a ‘t***’ who has ‘no clue about history’
‘I’ve searched for the right word to describe him and I think it’s ‘t**t’. He also has no clue about history.
‘Because far more recently than 30 or 40 years ago, as Vance claimed last week, our brave young men were being blown to pieces in some godforsaken desert to support whatever madcap scheme the American president had embarked upon that week.’
The sprawling historic manor where Vance will be staying, isn’t far from Clarkson’s own Cotswolds home, Curdle Hill Farm, better known as Diddly Squat Farm.
Built in the 18th century, it is currently swarming with secret service agents dressed in regulation navy blue sports jackets and khaki chino trousers who are guarding the property around the clock.
One of the team, when asked about Mr Vance’s arrival, remained stern-faced, saying only: ‘We can’t tell you anything.’
The manor’s owner was equally tight-lipped about Vance’s arrival, only saying: ‘Thanks so much but we have no comment to make.’
But locals were more forthcoming and confirmed the arrival of Trump’s deputy.
One told the Daily Mail: ‘There has been a lot of activity at the manor this last few days. It is hard to miss. Security absolutely everywhere.
The 18th century home is currently swarming with secret service agents dressed in regulation navy blue sports jackets and khaki chino trousers
In an adjoining field, an impromptu circular helicopter landing pad had also been mown into the grass
‘Men dressed identically surrounding the property with ear pieces and dark glasses.
‘Blacked out Mercedes vans shuttling people around every few minutes. We have never seen anything like it. It’s like something out of a film.
‘The word is that it is indeed for JD Vance. So we shall see.’
In the grounds, American secret service personnel in dark glasses, talking into ear-pieces, were dotted around its four corners keeping watch.
On the main gateway of the property, leading to a sweeping ‘in and out’ driveway, two suited security guards were checking the security clearance of those coming and going in a stream of blacked out cars and Mercedes limousine vans.
In an adjoining field, an impromptu circular helicopter landing pad had also been mown into the grass. Within the grounds, teams of gardeners had been drafted in to make the lawns and pretty herbaceous borders look immaculate.
During his UK visit, Vance and his family – including his wife Usha and their children Ewan, Viviek and Mirabel – are set to stay the night with Foreign Secretary David Lammy at his grace and favour home in Chevening, near Sevenoaks in Kent.
Despite Lammy previously describing Trump as a ‘woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath’, he is now said to consider the President’s deputy as a ‘friend’ and that they ‘completely relate’ to each other.
On the main gateway of the property, leading to a sweeping ‘in and out’ driveway, two suited security guards were checking the security clearance of those coming and going
When the Mail visited the property there were swathes of blacked out cars and Mercedes limousine vans
The family are expected to arrive on Friday, staying one night at the 300-year-old Grade I mansion before heading off to Oxfordshire via Hampton Court Palace, in Richmond, London.
The politicians are said to have bonded over their religious backgrounds, with Lammy being raised in the Anglican church and Vance being baptised Catholic in 2019.
‘Lammy has visited Vance’s family and the relationship looks like it will continue to grow on a personal as well as a professional basis,’ a source told the Telegraph.
‘They will have a short bilateral meeting, no doubt discussing Ukraine, Gaza, trade and tech… They’ll wrap it up and then the family will join.’
The Vance family will no doubt enjoy the sprawling mansion which sits within 3,000 acres of the North Downs countryside.
The Foreign Office said ministerial engagements would be announced in ‘the usual way’.
The Cotswolds have seen an influx of rich Americans holidaying in the rural spot in the last few years, after a number of celebrities have flown over the pond to settle down.
A host of black and white cars can be seen parked in the driveway of Mr Vance’s new rented property
US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres moved in with her wife Portia De Rossi last year after Trump’s reelection.
She is said to now be deliberately fleeing her home in the country while the Vice Presidents settles in for the summer.
Other famous names known to have visited the area include Beyonce, Jay-Z and Taylor Swift who have all enjoyed the bucolic area’s chocolate-box villages, honeyed-stone, rolling hills and cosy pubs.
Many locals in the area, however, are not too happy about Vance’s arrival – with some groups hoping to spoil his trip.
Pro-Palestine activists, eco zealots and trade unionists have vowed to wreak havoc with planned protests during his stay, mirroring the similar demonstrations seen when the Vance family visited Disneyland.
The Stop Trump Coalition alliance is said to include pro-Palestinian activists, climate campaigners and trade unions.
It comes after his boss, President Trump, visited Scotland last week spending time teeing off at his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire in between holding diplomatic talks with the Prime Minister.
Announcing plans for a protest during Trump’s proposed state visit to the UK in September, the group said: ‘We are meeting Trump with protests in Aberdeen and Edinburgh this month, and then in London and Windsor in September.
‘JD Vance is every bit as unwelcome in the UK as Donald Trump. We remember how Vance cut short his ski trip in Vermont because he was so enraged by the sight of a few protesters.
‘We are sure that, even in the Cotswolds, he will find the resistance waiting.’
