An online petition to prevent the US President Donald Trump making an official state visit to the UK has generated over 700k signatures, at the time of writing…and is rapidly rising.
There are enough signatures to warrant the issue being considered for debate in parliament.
Senior Conservatives joined the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in calling for the visit to be suspended so long as Trump’s controversial immigration ban is in place.
The petition states:
“Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen”
RT reports:
The petition also precludes President Trump from meeting with The Prince of Wales in any official capacity: “Donald Trump’s well documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales. Therefore during the term of his presidency Donald Trump should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official State Visit.”
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted the petition just after midday on January 29:
.@Theresa_May would be failing the British people if she does not postpone the state visit & condemn Trump’s actions in the clearest terms
— Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) January 29, 2017
Since posting Corbyn’s tweet, the petition has crossed the threshold needed for it to be debated in the British Parliament and currently boasts more than 400,000 signatures beyond the 100,000 required to trigger a parliamentary debate.
While Prime Minister Theresa May’s office has insisted that the state visit will go ahead as planned, the outcome of the parliamentary debate could derail such plans. May conducted her own own state visit to the White House this week.
Niamh Harris