LOCAL MP Rachel Gilmour has backed calls for the cancellation of a visit by King Charles to America.

Mrs Gilmour supported a Liberal Democrat Parliamentary motion urging Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to advise the April 27 to 29 visit be called off.

Her Tiverton and Minehead constituency covers West Somerset and Exmoor and parts of the Culm Valley and Blackdown Hills, and parishes bordering Wellington.

Mrs Gilmour said: “A State visit is our nation’s highest mark of respect.

“It cannot be used to validate a president who has ignited an illegal war, gambled with the world’s economy, and sent energy bills soaring for every household.”

“We refuse to let the King be used as a political shield for an administration that treats our allies with contempt.”