UK PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer met with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a visit to New York where he delivered a speech to the UN calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In his speech to the UN General Assembly yesterday evening, Starmer said: “It shames us all that the suffering in Gaza continues to grow.”

He called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

Starmer also pleaded with Israel and Hezbollah to de-escalate the situation on Lebanon’s border and agree a ceasefire.

“I call on Israel and Hezbollah. Stop the violence. Step back from the brink,” he said.

“We need to see an immediate ceasefire to provide space for a diplomatic settlement and we are working with all partners to that end.”

Stressing the need to prevent a regional conflict in the Middle East, he said “further escalation serves no one”.

Starmer also visited Trump Tower for talks ahead of November’s US election. He he wanted to meet Trump face to face because “I’m a great believer in personal relationships on the world stage”.

Ahead of the meeting, Starmer told reporters: “I’ve said a number of times, I want to meet both candidates. We’ve now got the opportunity to meet Trump, which is good.”

“Obviously, I still want to speak to Harris as well. But you know, the usual diary challenges, but it’s good that this one now has been fixed,” he said.

“It’ll be really to establish a relationship between the two of us. I’m a great believer in personal relations on the international stage. I think it really matters that you know who your counterpart is in any given country, and know them personally, get to know them face to face.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy – who called Trump a “racist KKK and Nazi sympathiser” in 2017 and promised to protest on the streets if he visited the UK – also attended the Trump Tower meeting.

Speaking at a press conference before they met, Trump said he thought Starmer was “very nice”.

He said: “I actually think he’s very nice. He ran a great race, he did very well, it’s very early, he’s very popular.”

The presidential candidate added praise for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. He said: “I think Nigel is great, I’ve known him for a long time. He had a great election too, picked up a lot of seats, more seats than he was allowed to have actually. They acknowledged that he won but for some reason you have a strange system over there, you might win them but you don’t get them.”

Asked whether he would be prepared to stand up to Trump on issues such as support for Ukraine, Starmer said: “The first thing I think is important to say in relation to this is we’ve obviously had a special relationship with the US for a long time, forged in really difficult circumstances.

“That always sits above whoever holds the particular office, either in the US or the UK, and it is really important. I think it’s probably as strong now as it’s ever been, in relation to the Middle East and Ukraine.”

“The US people will decide who they want as their president, and we will work with whoever is president, as you would expect. I’m not going to speculate on what any particular issues may be the other side of the election.”