An online Petition demanding President Donald Trump to be stopped from visiting the United Kingdom this year has surpassed over one million signatures. The petition, which is on the government's website, was being signed by more that a thousand people a minute at one stage yesterday. It took a matter of hours to reach the 100,000 signatures required for the petition to be debated in parliament.
Trump's visit 'in the national interest'
Last week, Prime Minister Theresa May visited the United States to meet with the new President. As the petition reached a million votes, Downing Street confirmed that the Prime Minister would not be withdrawing her invitation to the US president.
A Downing Street spokesperson said that Donald Trump's visit to the United Kingdom is “substantially in the national interest”.
Although the petition doesn't call for Donald Trump to be banned from the United Kingdom it states that the President shouldn't be able to meet the royal family as it would be 'an embarrassment for Her Majesty the Queen'. The creators of the petition stated: 'Donald Trump's well-documented misogyny and vulgarity should disqualify him from state visiting privileges afforded to presidents of the United States. Therefore, during the term of Donald Trump, he should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official state visit'.
Questions asked
A host of Conservative politicians joined Labour and Liberal Democrats MPs in probing May’s decision to go ahead with the state visit.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Labour, demanded that the visit was postponed while Trump placed a ban on immigration. 'I don't know why May has been so quick to invite the new president given his history of problematic policies. The President shouldn't be welcomed to the United Kingdom while he abuses our shared values,' Corbyn said.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, stated that the invitation should be withdrawn. “Theresa May should have stood up to Trump when she went to America. Now Trump is invited to the United Kingdom and will be entertained by the royals'.
