UK's Sunak to host European Political Community meeting in July

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will host European leaders at a meeting of the European Political Community at Blenheim Palace on July 18, the government said on Tuesday, finally putting an end to speculation over the cause for delay in setting a date.

Some had suggested Britain was reluctant to set a date for the meeting of the European Political Community, a group of more than 40 European states formed in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, because Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was considering holding a national election in May. Sunak said last week he would not hold a general election in early May, in the strongest indication yet that the national vote would take place later this year.

"I am delighted that the UK will host the next European Political Community meeting at the historic Blenheim Palace," Sunak said in a statement, referring to the birthplace and ancestral home of former prime minister Winston Churchill. "From putting our full support behind Ukraine to stopping the scourge of people smuggling and illegal migration, under the UK's leadership the meeting will bring together our European friends, partners, and neighbours to address our shared challenges."

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt spoke hypothetically about the timing of the election on Tuesday while talking to lawmakers about the government's next review of public spending which has to be completed before April 2025. "If the general election is in October, that will mean it's very, very tight," Hunt said in a question-and-answer session with the Economic Affairs Committee of the House of Lords.