Theresa May has declined to cancel a planned state visit by Donald Trump to the UK in spite of controversy about his ban on Muslims travelling to America.
According to Downing Street, the PM’s stance on plans for the US President to travel to the UK later this year remain the same despite calls for the visit to be scrapped.
A spokesman for Number 10 reiterated that an invitation to Mr. Trump from the PM had been “extended and accepted”.
It comes as a petition calling for Mr. Trump’s visit to be cancelled has amassed over one million signatures and is set to be debated in Parliament today.
MPs cast doubt on the likelihood of the trip going ahead in the wake of the President banning immigrants and refugees in seven countries – including Iraq, Syria and Libya – from entering the USA.
Former Tory foreign office minister Alistair Burt said the “optics of a visit” were “very bad” at present, while Labour MP Dan Jarvis thought it “very likely” that the travel ban would be debated in Parliament today.
Former Labour party leader Ed Miliband criticised the PM on Twitter for her continued refusal to condemn the refugee and immigrant ban.
.@theresa_may You're the Prime Minister. Get on the phone to the President and tell him the ban cannot stand. And do it today.
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) January 29, 2017
Olympic athlete Sir Mo Farah accused the President of “making him an alien” on Facebook.
Sir Mo, a dual citizen of the UK and US, said the ban was “a policy that comes from a place of ignorance and prejudice”.
The Foreign Office, though, has stressed that the ban only applies to individuals coming to the US from one of the seven named countries and does not apply to either UK nationals or those with UK dual citizenship.
Yesterday Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson condemned Mr. Trump’s executive order on Twitter, saying it was a “divisive and wrong” move by the President.
We will protect the rights and freedoms of UK nationals home and abroad. Divisive and wrong to stigmatise because of nationality
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 29, 2017
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Baroness Warsi said Mr. Trump’s state visit should be axed to show his controversial views on Muslim immigrants are “not what we believe and not what we support”.
She said: “Those who run and govern this country bowing down to a man who holds the views the views that he holds, values which are not the same as British values, I think is sending out a very wrong signal.
The baroness claimed on the programme that the President had “no respect for women”, “disdain for minorities” and “no compassion for the vulnerable”.