Boy, US President Donald Trump really shouldn’t have retweeted those posts from Britain First. His sharing of the extreme right-wing anti-Muslim hate group’s video material caused a rift between himself and British Prime Minister Theresa May when she called what he did “wrong” and he attacked her personally for it, after which his state visit to the UK was thrown into question as both Parliament and the PM herself wanted nothing to do with him.
And then Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, announced that Trump would be visiting the UK early next year, not in any formal capacity, but so that he could open a new American embassy as it moves to an £800 million compound in Battersea.
And now, London is up in arms about it, with one borough of the city holding a council meeting that determined that the US President was “not welcome” there. So, they’ve passed a formal motion to keep him out of there. And now, you’re up to speed.
Trump branded a ‘bigot’ by London council
The council of the London borough of Greenwich passed the motion to declare that President Trump was a “bigoted” man who “would not be welcome” in the area, should he visit the UK next year. Trump probably won’t be losing any sleep over it, but it should send the right message that the majority of the people of Britain do not agree with the far-right views of Britain First (and that it’s irresponsible for a sitting US President to tell the world that he does).
The Greenwich council also called on the British government – specifically Theresa May, due to her recent contentions with the US President – to retract its invitation for a state visit to Trump, although experts have said that this would offend not only the President, but all of America. Still, alarm bells have been ringing all around the UK ever since Trump shared some particularly Islamophobic posts by infamous Islamophobe Jayda Fransen, who is the deputy head of the Britain First organisation.
Also in their announcement of the motion passing, the Greenwich council added “with sadness” that the way Trump acts “towards women and ethnic minorities” has made them hate him even more, leading to “examples of division and hatred within the US,” which they don’t want carried across the Atlantic Ocean and into our country.
So, in conclusion, the council was calling on the government “to abandon plans” for any extension of an invitation or any rolling out of the red carpet for Donald Trump. The government likely won’t listen to that – it’s more of a statement against the President than anything else.
Greenwich councillors have a better idea for how to spend Trump’s security costs
According to the Greenwich council (and they’re right), the ridiculously high expenditures on security that a state visit by Trump would cost would be far better spent on a different cause. Rather than keeping a bigot safe, they’d rather the money was donated to charities whose aim is to “promote peace and understanding,” offering the Jo Cox Foundation as an example.
Jo Cox is a Labour Party MP who was murdered a few days before the EU referendum that led to Brexit. She was killed by a right-wing extremist named Thomas Mair who yelled out, “Britain first!” while he murdered her.
Brendan Cox, the husband of Jo Cox, was among those who condemned Trump’s sharing of the Britain First posts. He said simply, “Spreading hatred has consequences.” It’s true. After Trump retweeted the posts, the House of Commons exploded with debate as many MPs were outraged, calling for the state visit to be cancelled. Sadly, it probably won’t be. But at least there’s one area of the UK that will remain comfortably Trump-free.
