Rishi Sunak wishes King ‘full and speedy recovery’ after cancer diagnosis
Rishi Sunak has wished the King a “speedy recovery” after Buckingham Palace announced he was diagnosed with a form of cancer.
The prime minister led global well-wishes to the King, posting on X: “Wishing His Majesty a full and speedy recovery.
“I have no doubt he’ll be back to full strength in no time and I know the whole country will be wishing him well.”
Follow live: King chose to share news to ‘prevent speculation’
The King has begun a schedule of regular treatments and has been advised to postpone his public-facing duties.
Former prime ministers Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Sir Tony Blair posted similar messages, with Mr Johnson saying: “The whole country will be rooting for the King today.”
Across the Atlantic, Joe Biden said he was “concerned” about Charles and planned to call him later.
The US president told reporters: “I’m concerned about him. Just heard about his diagnosis.
“I’ll be talking to him, God willing.”
Donald Trump, Mr Biden’s predecessor, called the King a “wonderful man, who I got to know well during my presidency”.
Writing on his Truth Social platform in all capital letters, he added: “We all pray that he has a fast and full recovery!”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “I like Canadians across the country and people around the world, I am thinking of His Majesty King Charles III as he undergoes treatment for cancer.
“We’re sending him our very best wishes – and hoping for a fast and full recovery.”
In the UK, messages poured in from across the political spectrum, with leaders of all the main parties wishing the King a full recovery.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “On behalf of the Labour Party, I wish His Majesty all the very best for his recovery.
“We look forward to seeing him back to swift full health.”
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Prince Harry to travel to UK to see King
Full statement from Buckingham Palace
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said his party joins “the rest of the nation in wishing a full and quick recovery to His Majesty”.
Northern Ireland’s new First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, the first nationalist to occupy the office, said: “I am very sorry to hear of King Charles’ illness and I want to wish him well for his treatment, and a full and speedy recovery.”
The King was also praised for making his diagnosis public, with some MPs reflecting on their own experiences with cancer.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in his thirties, said: “As a cancer survivor, I know how impactful his decision to share this news will be in lifting understanding for those affected.”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, who received treatment for kidney cancer in 2021, said: “One in two of us will develop cancer during our lives, but millions more are affected when someone they love is diagnosed with cancer.
“Sending best wishes to His Majesty for his treatment and to his family as they support him throughout.”
Home Secretary James Cleverly, whose wife has battled breast cancer, said: “Susie and I have seen the amazing work that medical professionals can do in cancer treatment. I wish His Majesty a full and speedy recovery.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who lost his brother to cancer last year, said: “Thinking about His Majesty the King and his family tonight. Cancer is a horrible disease but we all pray it has been caught early enough for him to continue his remarkable life of service to our country.”
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Royal commentator Alastair Bruce on diagnosis
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle told MPs: “I know the whole House will wish to join me in expressing our sympathies with His Majesty the King following the news announcement this evening.
“Our thoughts are, of course, with His Majesty and his family, and we’d all wish to send him our very best wishes for the successful treatment and a speedy recovery following tonight’s news.”
The diagnosis comes following treatment for an enlarged prostate, although the palace said he does not have prostate cancer.
The palace has not confirmed what type of cancer the 75-year-old monarch has.
The Duke of Sussex has spoken to his father about his diagnosis and will travel to Britain to see him in the coming days, said a source close to Prince Harry.
A palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty has been treated for benign prostate enlargement.
“It was during this intervention that the separate issue of concern was noted and subsequently diagnosed as a form of cancer.
“This second condition will now receive appropriate treatment.”
The government has published witness statements submitted by a senior official connected to the collapse of a trial involving two men accused of spying for China.
Here are three big questions that flow from them:
1. Why weren’t these statements enough for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to carry on with the trial?
For this prosecution to go ahead, the CPS needed evidence that China was a “threat to national security”.
The deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins doesn’t explicitly use this form of words in his evidence. But he comes pretty close.
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In the February 2025 witness statement, he calls China “the biggest state-based threat to the UK’s economic security”.
Six months later, he says China’s espionage operations “harm the interests and security of the UK”.
Yes, he does quote the language of the Tory government at the time of the alleged offences, naming China as an “epoch-defining and systemic challenge”.
But he also provides examples of malicious cyber activity and the targeting of individuals in government during the two-year period that the alleged Chinese spies are said to have been operating.
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Witness statements published in China spy trial
In short, you can see why some MPs and ex-security chiefs are wondering why this wasn’t enough.
Former MI6 head Sir Richard Dearlove told Sky News this morning that “it seems to be there was enough” and added that the CPS could have called other witnesses – such as sitting intelligence directors – to back up the claim that China was a threat.
Expect the current director of public prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Parkinson to be called before MPs to answer all these questions.
2. Why didn’t the government give the CPS the extra evidence it needed?
The DPP, Stephen Parkinson, spoke to senior MPs yesterday and apparently told them he had 95% of the evidence he needed to bring the case.
The government has said it’s for the DPP to explain what that extra 5% was.
He’s already said the missing link was that he needed evidence to show China was a “threat to national security”, and the government did not give him that.
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What does China spy row involve?
The newly published witness statements show they came close.
But if what was needed was that explicit form of words, why was the government reticent to jump through that hoop?
The defence from ministers is that the previous Conservative administration defined China as a “challenge”, rather than a “threat” (despite the numerous examples from the time of China being a threat).
The attack from the Tories is that Labour is seeking closer economic ties with China and so didn’t want to brand them an explicit threat.
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Is China an enemy to the UK?
3. Why do these statements contain current Labour policy?
Sir Keir Starmer says the key reason for the collapse of this trial is the position held by the previous Tory government on China.
But the witness statements from Matthew Collins do contain explicit references to current Labour policy. The most eye-catching is the final paragraph of the third witness statement provided by the Deputy National Security Adviser, where he quotes directly from Labour’s 2024 manifesto.
He writes: “It is important for me to emphasise… the government’s position is that we will co-operate where we can; compete where we need to; and challenge where we must, including on issues of national security.”
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In full: Starmer and Badenoch clash over China spy trial
Did these warmer words towards China influence the DPP’s decision to drop the case?
Why did Matthew Collins feel it so important to include this statement?
Was he simply covering his back by inserting the current government’s approach, or was he instructed to put this section in?
A complicated relationship
Everyone agrees that the UK-China relationship is a complicated one.
There is ample evidence to suggest that China poses a threat to the UK’s national security. But that doesn’t mean the government here shouldn’t try and work with the country economically and on issues like climate change.
It appears the multi-faceted nature of these links struggled to fit the legal specificity required to bring a successful prosecution.
But there are still plenty of questions about why the government and the CPS weren’t able or willing to do more to square these circles.
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