Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has touched down in London for three days of political talks including about the Middle East peace process and an audience with King Charles.
Albanese’s visit to the UK comes after a week in the United States, where he met US President Donald Trump at a welcome reception for world leaders in New York and locked in a formal sit-down for October.
The centrepiece of day one of his UK trip is formal talks at 10 Downing Street on Saturday AEST with his British counterpart Keir Starmer.
Albanese has already had a key private meeting with former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
According to reports in Israeli media, Blair is being suggested under a proposal to lead a body that would assume temporary administration of the Gaza strip.
Following that proposal there could then be an Arab-led multinational peace keeping force that would be organised by the United Nations.
How this would be received by the Palestinian people is a key question because Blair led the UK into the Iraq war.
His office says he won’t do anything to displace the Gazan people.
Besides meeting Starmer, Albanese is expected to hold a separate engagement with the UK opposition leader Kemi Badendoch.
The King is also a keen conservationist and climate change campaigner, a key topic likely to be raised when the pair meet.
Later in the weekend Albanese will speak at a UK Labour conference, as the British government seeks to learn lessons from the Albanese campaign’s mammoth electoral victory in May.
Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are also expected to attend the conference.
— With additional reporting from the Australian Associate Press.
