British Parliament will debate on
Monday whether the government should rescind its invitation to President Donald
Trump for an official state visit.
A petition to Parliament calling for
the invite to be withdrawn has amassed more than 1.8 million signatures as of
Sunday, far surpassing the 100,000 signatures needed to prompt a debate in
Parliament.
“He should not be invited to make an
official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the
Queen,” the petition reads, citing Trump’s “well documented misogyny and
vulgarity.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan agrees with the
petition and said Sunday Trump should be denied due to his “ban on people
from seven Muslim-majorities countries” and his decision to block refugees from
entering the United States, the Associated Press reports.
“In those circumstances we shouldn’t be
rolling out the red carpet,” Khan said.
People
protest against the U.S. travel and immigration ban from seven Muslim-majority
countries and demand President Donald Trump’s planned state visit to the UK to
be canceled outside Downing Street in London on Jan. 30.
Hosted by the Queen, state visits in
England are typically multi-day affairs with pomp and ceremony: They include a
horse-drawn carriage ride to Buckingham Palace accompanied by senior-most
regiments of the British Army, gun salutes and a formal banquet at the palace
where the visiting official is feted.
Prime Minister Theresa May sparked
controversy for not only extending the invite to Trump, but also doing it so
quickly ― just days after his Jan. 20 inauguration.
Of the 12 U.S. presidents to hold
office during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, only two have been received in
official state visits: President George W. Bush in 2003 and President Barack
Obama in 2011.


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