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Trump’s Muslim Ban: Millions Sign Petition to Stop UK Visit

Trump’s Muslim Ban: Millions Sign Petition to Stop UK Visit
folder_openUnited Kingdom access_time7 years ago
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Local Editor

A petition to stop US President Donald Trump's UK state visit has gathered more than a million signatures.

Trump’s Muslim Ban: Millions Sign Petition to Stop UK Visit

Numbers of signatories had been rising rapidly since a US clampdown on immigration came into effect over the weekend, causing anger worldwide.

UK PM Theresa May announced the visit during her recent US trip. Downing Street had rejected calls for it to be cancelled as a "populist gesture".

Labor's Jeremy Corbyn urged the PM to postpone the visit.

The petition is now the second-most popular on the government's website. MPs will discuss it on Tuesday.

It 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."

State visits are grand occasions requiring an invitation from the Queen, and are distinct from regular visits by heads of state. The Queen usually receives one or two heads of state a year.

Graham Guest, a solicitor from Leeds who began the petition, said he wanted it to "put the spotlight" on Trump.

On Sunday, he told the Press Association news agency: "A state visit legitimizes his presidency and he will use the photo opportunities and being seen with the Queen to get re-elected."

On Friday Trump signed an executive order halting the US refugee program for 120 days, indefinitely banning all Syrian refugees and suspending the entry of all nationals from seven Muslim countries.

Moves to implement the measure triggered anger and protest across the world.

On Saturday afternoon the petition had just 60 signatures but reached the 100,000 needed to be considered for debate by Parliament just after midday on Sunday. About 30,000 have come from outside the UK.

It is now second only to a petition signed by more than four million people calling for a fresh referendum on whether to leave the European Union [EU].

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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