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Emmanuel Macron will reportedly be given a state visit to the UK before Donald Trump’s expected visit in September.

The French president received an invitation from the King to travel to the UK at the end of May, according to The Sunday Times.

The paper said few government and royal officials know the details of the engagement, which would be Mr Macron’s first state visit to Britain and come eight years after he took office.

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Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters

‘Trump-fest’

It comes after Mr Trump suggested Buckingham Palace was “setting a date for September” for him to meet the King.

He said: “They’re going to do a second, as you know, a second fest … that’s what it is: a fest, and it’s beautiful, and it’s the first time it’s ever happened to one person.”

Previously, US presidents who have already made a state visit, such as George W Bush and Barack Obama, usually have tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle.

But Sir Keir Starmer handed Mr Trump what he described as a “truly historic” personal invitation from the King for a second state visit when he visited the White House in February.

Reports suggest the venue is expected to be Windsor Castle, rather than Balmoral or Dumfries House, as previously thought.

Mr Macron’s visit is also expected to take place at Windsor due to refurbishment at Buckingham Palace.

Read more from Sky News:
Sucking up to Trump will only get Starmer so far
Farage accused of peddling ‘nonsense and lies’

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Is the UK ready for a ‘Trump-fest’?

Sir Keir has repeatedly insisted he does not need to choose between pursuing a closer relationship with Europe and strengthening US-UK trade.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to speak with her American counterparts next week about the prospect of a wider economic agreement to alleviate the impact of Mr Trump’s 10% tariffs on all goods entering America.

But ministers have said Britain must look at co-ordinating better across Europe in order to protect the country’s economy.

Sir Keir and Mr Macron have been cooperating closely on defence, with both leaders pushing for an Anglo-French-led “coalition of the willing” to defend any potential peace deal in Ukraine.

Downing Street declined to comment.

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Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

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Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

The CARF regulation, which brings crypto under global tax reporting standards akin to traditional finance, marks a crucial turning point.

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

The nascent real-world tokenized assets track prices but do not provide investors the same legal rights as holding the underlying instruments.

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

Read more:
Yet another fiscal ‘black hole’? Here’s why this one matters

Success or failure: One year of Keir in nine charts

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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

More on Rachel Reeves

“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

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Why was the chancellor crying at PMQs?

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

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Reeves is ‘totally’ up for the job

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”

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