Keir Starmer has been challenged about whether Donald Trump should be given a state visit after tens of thousands demanded his invite is torn up.
The PM said it is a "matter for the King" when pressed by the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg. Last week Mr Starmer handed the US President a letter from King Charles offering him a state visit - making him the first ever foreign leader to be given the honour a second time.
But since then his attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office has a massive backlash. A petition calling for the invite to be rescinded has attracted nearly 70,000 signatures, while former Tory defence minister Tobias Ellwood said such a visit would be "inappropriate". Ms Kuenssberg asked the PM: "It's clearly very valuable to you and clearly you've made a bond of sorts with Donald Trump in the time that you've been in office.
"Lots of people, though, look at how Donald Trump behaves in this country and don't like it very much. There are people like the SNP, for example, other public figures saying he shouldn't be given a second state visit.
"That's an unprecedented thing... Why does Donald Trump deserve a second state visit? Or frankly, was it a diplomatic enticement so that you could get him on board?"
Mr Starmer responded: "Well, that's a matter for the King." But the BBC journalist pointed out the invite would not have happened without Government backing.
The PM said: "This is a moment of real fragility in Europe. It's a very serious moment." He continued: "What drives me is - is what I'm saying or doing more likely to bring about peace, a lasting peace or not? If the answer is yes, I'll do it. If the answer is not, I won't do it.
"So I've seen people ramping up their rhetoric and taking to Twitter and saying what they would do - good for them. I'm not that interested in that.
"I'm interested in what are the practical steps, what are the bridge building that I could do? What are the relationships that I can mend and take forward and use to take us to lasting peace in Europe? And in the end, that's my central concern.
"I'm not going to be diverted by SNP or others trying to ramp up the rhetoric without really appreciating what is the single most important thing at stake here, which is peace in Europe."
A petition calling for the invite to be rescinded states: "After Trump’s treatment of Ukraine’s President Zelensky, he has shown that he is not our friend or an ally of democracy. The tactic of trying to flatter him into doing the right thing has failed. He is not someone who should be receiving honours of any kind."
Mr Ellwood told The Mail on Sunday: "It would be inappropriate to place the King in the position of hosting the President if US foreign policy shifts away from its long-standing support for Ukraine and toward alignment with Russia's security objectives."
And Shadow Home Affairs Minister Alicia Kearns hit out at the "degrading spectacle" in the Oval Office on Friday. She said: "State visits should be conferred to the most honourable of allies, not to curry favour. No state visit should proceed until the steadfastness of the US's commitment to her allies is assured."
Trump was previously given a state visit to the UK in 2019. There were huge protests during his trip, with a massive blimp depicting him as an angry baby flown outside Parliament.
On Friday Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "This historic state visit will be an important moment. Will there be people protesting or disagreeing? Of course there will.
"But I just say to people that those protests are one of the amazing things about living in a democracy. We've got the freedom to speak up, people protest against this Government as well.
"But the freedom to protest, our democratic freedoms are built on the bedrock of the US-UK special relationship. And that's why the Prime Minister went to Washington yesterday to deliver for our country, for our continent, for our world, by building that strong friendship with President Trump and deepening the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom as people would expect him to."
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