A Parliamentary petition to rescind the invitation for Donald Trump to make an official state visit has received nearly 1.3 million signatures in a matter of days, making it the fastest-growing such petition in Parliamentary history.
Despite the numbers, the Prime Minister's Office has indicated that it will continue with the state visit as planned.
The petition says that the visit should be canceled "because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen" and "Donald Trump's well documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales."
While other world leaders were quick to condemn Trump's illegal ban on Muslims entering the USA, UK Prime Minister Theresa May dragged her feet — offering weak criticism only after noted bigots in her cabinet, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, made public statements indicating that Trump had gone too far even for them.
But after public pressure, May did eventually make a public statement opposing the ban. As more signatures flood into the petition site, she may yet be swayed. In any event, the petition has crossed the 100,000 signature threshold, meaning that Parliament must consider debating it, and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for the visit to be canceled.
The Government’s action comes after Ms May repeatedly refused to comment on Mr Trump’s policy at a press conference in Turkey on Saturday, leading to accusations that she is putting good relations with Mr Trump and the hopes of a post-Brexit trade deal ahead of human rights.In the wake of the press conference, Tory MP Sarah Wollaston said the President should not be allowed to address either House of Parliament on his pending state visit as a result of the policy. She was backed by other Tories including Heidi Allen and ex-foreign minister Alistair Burt.
Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the United Kingdom [Petitions/Parliament UK]
Pressure grows on May as a million people sign anti-Trump petition over 'Muslim ban'
[Joe Watts/The Independent]
