Over 1 million sign petition to stop Trump’s UK visit

Over a million people have signed an online petition to stop US President Donald Trump from making a state visit to the United Kingdom.

The petition on the UK government’s official petitions site quickly reached the 100,000 signatures needed to be considered for a parliamentary debate, and at one point was being signed by more than a thousand people per minute.

MPs will discuss the petition on Tuesday.

However, Downing Street confirmed that Theresa May would not be withdrawing her invitation to Trump because it remained “substantially in the national interest”. A Downing Street source told the BBC that rejecting Trump would be a “populist gesture”.

“America is a huge important ally. We have to thing long term,” the source was quoted as saying.

Graham Guest, a solicitor from Leeds who started the petition, said he wanted it to “put the spotlight” on Trump.

“A state visit legitimises his presidency and he will use the photo opportunities and being seen with the Queen to get re-elected,” he told the Press Association news agency.

Trump on Friday signed an executive order halting the US refugee relocation programme for 120 days, indefinitely banning all Syrian refugees and suspending the entry into the US of all nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries. The move triggered anger and protests across the world, with further protests set to take place across the UK this evening.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for Trump’s state visit to be suspended while the immigration ban is in place.

“Donald Trump should not be welcomed to Britain wile he abuses our shared values with his shameful Muslim ban and attacks on refugees’ and women’s rights,” he said. “Theresa May would be failing the British people if she does not postpone the state visit and condemn Trump’s actions in the clearest terms. That’s what Britain expects and deserves.”

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said that te invite to Trump should be withdrawn and should never have been made in the first place.

“What I am opposed to is Theresa May, when she should have gone over to the States to defend our corner and stand up to Donald Trump, has gone over and held his hand and is being seen now as giving him a royal audience in the United Kingdom,” he said in an interview on Sky News.

“She should be standing up for British people and British interests, not going over there and tickling his tummy.”

Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Conservative party in Scotland, said in a statement that Trump should not be welcomed to Britain “while a cruel and divisive policy which discriminates against citizens of the host nation is in place”.