Latest news with #USvicepresident
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘We don't want him': Dance Against Vance in Cotswolds in protest at vice-president's UK holiday
There was cake and music. The weather was perfect. At first glance, it could have been a joyful community gathering in a sun-dappled Cotswolds village park, but the placards gave the game away. These pulled no punches, criticising the policies and stances championed by the US vice-president, JD Vance, who is enjoying a country break down the road. About 100 people, mostly women, turned up for the 'not welcome' party organised by the Stop Trump Coalition on the park opposite the Co-op in Charlbury. 'He's simply not welcome here,' said therapist Sue Moon, from nearby Chipping Norton, who was carrying a placard reading: 'We don't want him. Cotswold childless cat ladies say go home', a reference to Vance's typically blunt put-down of Democrats. Moon, who has children and no cats, said the Cotswolds was earning a reputation as a bolt-hole for the rich and powerful – former prime minister David Cameron lives nearby. 'That's not what we're about. We don't want anything to do with people like him,' she said. Natasha Phillips – who had travelled 70 miles from Bath to attend the event being billed as a 'Dance against Vance' – bore a placard saying: 'JD Vance – the guy who bullied a war hero from the comfort of his couch.' 'The way he treated Volodymyr Zelenskyy was disgusting,' she said. 'The Ukrainian people are heroes. British people admire the way they are standing up to [Vladimir] Putin. I wanted to come here to show that.' Chris Tatton, a long-term resident of Charlbury and a former councillor, said one of the worst things he had seen in a lifetime of watching politics was Vance's ambush of the Ukrainian president. 'That was disgraceful,' he said. His friend, retired union organiser Steve Akers, said even worse for him was the sight of starving children in Gaza. 'That wouldn't happen without this US government.' One placard said: 'Make Charlbury great again – go home.' Another said: 'Not too posh to protest.' A third: 'Rolling hills. Not rolling back climate change.' There were plenty of versions of the meme of Vance as a bloated baby. In June, a Norwegian man, Mads Mikkelsen, 21, accused American border officials of denying him entry into the US because he had the meme saved on his phone. More wholesomely, a boy with a skateboard wore a T-shirt with a cheerful Canadian motif. And the organisers had brought along a Colin the Caterpillar cake with an image of Vance's face attached to it. Rachel, a carer from Banbury, Oxfordshire, said: 'I'm most worried about his environmental policies. They risk eliminating the whole of humanity, all the creatures on the Earth.' Over the past few decades, this corner of Oxfordshire has been turned into a celeb-magnet – a place of designer delis, gastropubs, spas and private clubs. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion It is associated with rightwingers. Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat farm shop and pub attracts fans of his TV shows and his conservative views (though Clarkson called Vance 'a bearded God-botherer' in a Times column earlier this year.) In the interest of political balance, Vance's predecessor as veep, Kamala Harris, was spotted in Charlbury's pub, the Bull, last month. House prices here have soared, making it hard for local young people to find a place to live. A modern three-bedroomed house in Charlbury will set you back the best part of £500,000. As in rural areas across England, services such as health and transport are stretched. Vance probably won't see the issues. He is believed to be staying in an 18th-century manor house, owned by the lightbulb millionaire Johnny Hornby and his wife, Pippa, a London art patron and collector, who are friends of Cameron. Jonathan Mazower, communications director for Survival International, a charity that works with Indigenous peoples, did not attend the 'party' but was angry that Vance had been invited. 'There's massive disruption – all roads and footpaths have been closed, all cars are searched, no visitors are allowed in. There are police and US Secret Service agents everywhere,' said Mazower, who lives near the sprawling digs where Vance is staying. 'But more important than the disruption is what he represents. On the whole people here are very much live and let live but this is something else entirely. Trump's No 2 coming here feels like an absolute outrage and imposition. 'The massive police and Secret Service presence makes any normal protest impossible, so we've had to resort to putting up placards around the village, some of which are being taken down.' Andy Graham, the leader of West Oxfordshire district council, compared the scenes to the Will Smith film Men in Black. 'Seeing someone dressed up with black suit, sunglasses, the whole lot, you kind of felt it was a bit over the top really,' he said. 'We understand that people do need security but I think they haven't been discreet about it.'
The Independent
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Anti-JD Vance van tours Cotswolds while US Vice President stays in village
An anti- JD Vance van, displaying a doctored image of the US vice president, has been driven around Charlbury in the Cotswolds. The vehicle's appearance coincides with reports that JD Vance and his family are currently holidaying in the village. Political campaign group Everyone Hates Elon shared footage of the van on Tuesday, 12 August 2025. The group stated their action was a challenge to Vance's previous comments on free speech in the UK, referencing an unconfirmed claim that the image led to a tourist being banned from the US. Watch the video in full above.
The Independent
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Anti-JD Vance van drives around Cotswolds as US Vice President holidays in village
An anti- JD Vance van displaying an altered image of the US vice president has driven around a village in the Cotswolds, where the 41-year-old and his family are reportedly holidaying. Footage shared by political campaign group Everyone Hates Elon on Tuesday (12 August) shows the vehicle, which features a bald Vance, driving through Charlbury. The group claim that the doctored picture, which is a popular meme online, got a tourist banned from the US after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) found the image on their phone. The CBP has denied this. Referencing the alleged incident, the group said: 'This image got a tourist banned from the US. JD Vance said the UK has no free speech, so today this van is following him on his quiet British holiday. How's that for free speech, JD?'
The Independent
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Security services descend on UK's poshest farm shop as JD Vance visits with family
British armed counterterrorism officers debating who gets the chocolate-flavoured ice cream, Secret Service muttering in earpieces while wandering through meadows, and American security personnel emerging from a farm store with shopping bags. None of these are sights that residents of a sleepy Cotswolds village are used to, with peaceful country lanes and rolling farmland their more usual daily landscape. But this week, a US visitor in town, bringing warnings of a 'circus' in tow. After a busy few months in office, JD Vance is spending his summer holidays in a Grade II-listed country manor with his family in the hamlet of Dean, near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. And the US vice president 's trip would not be complete without a visit to a farm shop dubbed the UK 's poshest. Crowds descended on Daylesford Organic on Monday, as Mr Vance and his family decided to have a languorous lunch there, surrounded by products such as a £15 jar of hot chilli honey, a 12-pack of eggs for £6, and some bone broth at £7.50. The first signs of the visit was the unusual appearance of a man in a dark suit, according to a member of the gym attached to the store. 'This morning there were two guys walking the perimeter of the meadow in a black suit and tie,' they told The Times. 'There are gardeners in the meadow sometimes but not a man in a suit and tie, I have never seen that before, so I knew it must be for the vice president. It's not really very secret when they are dressed like that.' Daylesford Organic continues to be run by its founder, Lady Bamford, who is married to billionaire JCB chairman and Conservative donor Lord Bamford. The couple have previously hosted politicians at their Georgian country estate at Daylesford House, with Boris and Carrie Johnson even holding their wedding party there in 2022. The pair were seen leaving the farm shop's private dining room at around 3pm, according to a staff member, while Mr Vance, his wife Usha, and their three children, Ewan, eight, Vivek, five, and Mirabel, three, all left just under an hour later. A member of staff told the newspaper: 'They came and had lunch as a family. It's been exciting. Nice to have something different.' The Vance family were given a tour of the complex, with the vice president and his wife seen laughing as they strolled through a conservatory. Dean Manor, where the family are staying, is a 20-minute drive away in the vice president's 20-vehicle motorcade, which was seen parked up outside Daylesford Organic from around 1pm. Secret Service officers were spotted dressed in light-coloured chinos and plaid shirts, with kevlar vests hiding underneath, as they walked around the car park as well as inside the building. British armed counterterrorism officers were also seen, with one walking out of the store holding three ice creams for his colleagues and asking: 'Who wants chocolate?' And members of the Metropolitan Police's special escort group were seen too, dressed in bike leathers, and equipped with handguns and tasers. The team are normally in charge of protecting the Royal Family and government ministers. Then multiple members of American security personnel were seen carrying Daylesford paper shopping bags as they left the store, before placing them in their armoured vehicles. Around a hundred visitors also crowded round the entrance of Daylesford Organic, hoping to catch a glimpse of the vice president. American tourists and Maga supporters, Arne and Holly Ewing, both 49, of New Jersey, told The Times: 'We'd never get a chance to see him like that at home, you'd never get close. I posted on our family chat and my dad's like, how did you get so close to him? I was like, we're in England.' Residents in the vicinity of Dean Manor's 6-acre site have described roadblocks and police door knocks in recent days, as security in the area reaches high alert. Road closures, sniffer dogs, police and a number of blacked out cars have all been spotted in the area, a marked difference to the usual calm and quaint atmosphere of a Cotswold country retreat. Though the village is no stranger to high-profile faces, with it being the home to former prime minister David Cameron, the level of security has prompted the owners of the manor to apologise to locals 'for the circus'. Mr Vance is set to visit US troops at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on Wednesday. He will receive a briefing on the base's capabilities and will deliver remarks.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
JD Vance visits farm shop owned by Tory donor's wife
JD Vance has been pictured visiting a Cotswolds farm shop owned by the wife of a Tory donor. The US vice-president visited Daylesford Farm, owned by Baroness Bamford, on Monday during his holiday in the Cotswolds. The businesswoman, who founded the Daylesford Organic farm shops chain, is the wife of Lord Bamford, the chairman of construction equipment manufacturer JCB. The Tory peer, his brother Mark, and their company have donated more than £10m to the Conservatives over the past 20 years. Lord Bamford reportedly gave £3.94m to the party during the 2019 election campaign. Boris Johnson's wedding to Carrie Symonds in 2022 was also held at Lord Bamford's 18th-century estate, Daylesford House, in Gloucestershire. Mr Vance arrived at Daylesford Farm Shop in a convoy of armoured cars. He was shown around by Lord Bamford and took interest in the bread counter, where he was seen trying samples during his three-hour visit. A room inside was closed off for Mr Vance to enjoy lunch before he left via a back door. The Daylesford Farm Shop sells a variety of high-end organic produce, including bread, meat, fish, and seasonal fruits and vegetables. It also provides ready-to-cook meals, organic wines, candles and skincare products. Mr Vance, his wife Usha and their three children, began their summer holiday in the UK being hosted by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, at Chevening, his grace-and-favour country house in Kent. The vice-president's break has been peppered with official meetings on topics such as Ukraine and an intervention over the state of freedom of speech in Britain. On Sunday, the Vances were given exclusive access to Hampton Court Palace, the former home of Henry VIII. Mr Vance toured the grounds as a throng of tourists massed at the gates, watched over by secret service agents.
