Petition to ban Trump state visit to UK passes 1m

A petition to stop President Donald Trump coming to Britain for a state visit has gained more than 1m signatures after he made an executive order to temporarily ban people from seven majority Muslim countries and Syrian refugees from entering the US.

The petition has more than exceeded the 100,000 signatures needed for Parliament to consider a debate.

Protests in response to his potential visit are planned to take place in London, Manchester, Bristol, Brighton, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and Swansea at around 1800 GMT.

Prime Minister Theresa May proposed the state visit when she met Trump in Washington on Friday, where they discussed Nato and a potential trade deal once Britain leaves the European Union.

However, May came under fire when she did not condemn Trump’s immigration measures at a press conference in Turkey. Downing Street later issued a statement saying that the government “does not agree with” Trump and it is not a policy that Britain will be taking.

On Friday, Trump made an executive order for “extreme vetting” for people coming from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Iran, Libya and Somalia for 90 days and refugees from countries from other than Syria to not enter the country for 120 days, in order to “keep terrorists out”, but the move has been met with criticism from figures in the Republican and Democrat parties and world leaders with protests at airports across the US. A federal judge on Saturday decided to partially block the order.

On Sunday, foreign secretary Boris Johnson said that British citizens with dual nationality from any of the seven countries listed will be able to go to the US. But on Monday, the US embassy in London contradicted Johnson as it said that any national, or dual national from the seven countries should not apply for a visa appointment or go to one previously planned.

any "national, or dual national", of the seven countries, should "not schedule a visa appointment or pay any visa fees at this time" and if you have a scheduled appointment to not attend as it would not be able to proceed with the visa interview.

Figures from all parties have voiced their concerns for a state visit by Trump.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition, told ITV that it would be “wrong” for Trump to come to Britain while the ban was still in place.

"I think he has to be challenged on this. I am not happy with him coming here until that ban is lifted, quite honestly.”

Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats said: “Any visit by President Trump to Britain should be on hold until his disgraceful ban comes to an end. Otherwise, Theresa May would be placing the Queen in an impossible position of welcoming a man who is banning British citizens purely on grounds of their faith."

This was echoed by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, who told Sky News: "I am quite clear, this ban is cruel, this ban is shameful, while this ban is in place we should not be rolling out the red carpet for President Trump."

Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said that a state visit by Trump “could not possibly occur in the best traditions of the enterprise while a cruel and divisive policy which discriminates against citizens of the host nation is in place”.

Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, tweeted that it would be “wrong for it to go ahead” while the ban is still in place.

If Parliament does debate the petition, it would not be the first time that Trump will be discussed. In January last year a petition gained more than 570,000 signatures for MPs to debate banning the then presidential candidate from entering Britain. MPs decided not to ban him but labelled him a “fool” and a "wazzock”.