Protests against President Donald Trump’s Muslim-targeting travel ban took place in cities across the UK this evening.
London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Glasgow, Sheffield, Oxford, Newcastle, Manchester, Brighton, Gloucester, Leeds, Leicester and many more towns and cities played host to protests against Trump’s executive order banning citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US.
There has been widespread condemnation of the Trump Administration’s actions, as well as anger at Prime Minister Theresa May’s underwhelming response to the travel ban. A petition calling for Trump’s state visit to be cancelled has passed 1.5 million signatures.
Very high turnout for #AntiTrump demo. #MuslimBan pic.twitter.com/wUiyzA90Me
— Fuad Alakbarov (@DrAlakbarov) January 30, 2017
Photo: Jack Taylor / Getty Images
Despite the overwhelming response to the petition, which specifically states that Trump should be allowed to visit the UK in his capacity as head of government, but not on an official state visit, Downing Street have shown no sign of going back on their invitation.
The Prime Minister’s office said that May was “very happy” to extend the invitation to President Trump. In a House of Commons debate prompted by the petition, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said there was “every reason why [President Trump] should” be given a state visit to the UK.
There is no date set for Trump’s visit yet, but should it go ahead as planned, it would be unwise of the President to expect a warm welcome while the travel ban is in place.
Feature: Jack Taylor / Getty Images
