UK Petition to Halt Trump Visit Nears 1mln Signatures, Officials Say Visit to Go ahead Anyway

Rasa - Reports said nearly one million people have signed a petition urging Britain to withdraw an invitation for US President Donald Trump to visit London, but officials noted that the visit will go ahead anyway.

News ID: 426977

Date: 30 January 2017 - 22:09

RNA - The petition was started before British Prime Minister Theresa May extended the invitation for a “State” visit to Trump last Friday, the Indian Express reported.

Trump is set to visit to Britain later in the year. But the campaign to prevent the visit to Britain gathered momentum after Trump put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries.

However, the authorities on the other side have said that Trump's state visit to the UK will go ahead despite widespread outrage over the travel ban on Muslims and refugees.

Downing Street said its position had not changed on the US president's trip as British Prime Minister Theresa May came under pressure to downgrade or axe the visit.

"An invitation has been extended and accepted," a Number 10 spokesman said, stressing the position had not changed.

The Foreign Office said Britons with dual citizenship would be exempt from the controversial travel ban, but UK residents have been caught up in the chaos.

The US president accepted an invitation to visit Britain later this year, where he is due to be hosted by the Queen and would be treated to all the pomp and ceremony accorded to a state visit.

So far, the petition has garnered 930,000 names.

“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…," the petition said. Once a petition passes 100,000 signatures, lawmakers must consider the petition for debate.

Lawmakers from the governing Conservative party and opposition Labor party have criticized Trump’s move, with Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn saying the state visit should be put on hold.

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