Over half a million people signed a petition to keep the controversial presidential candidate out – for once, government has listened
He’s the man who wants Mexico to pay for a fence along the US-Mexican border to stop illegal workers and “rapists” entering. He’s the man who said of his time as the American version of Alan Sugar on The Apprentice US: “All of the women on flirted with me – consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.” He’s the man who wants to put an immediate ban on Muslims entering the country. He’s the man who has this as his new TV ad commercial. He is Donald Trump, presidential Rupublican candidate and the UK people don’t want him in the country.
The government have responded to this by stating they will debate his entry in parliament this month.
The petition to block Trump’s entry on the basis of his hate speech received over half a million signatures. Legally, the government have to discuss a petition that has more than 450,000 signatures. The petition stated: “If the United Kingdom is to continue applying the 'unacceptable behaviour' criteria to those who wish to enter its borders, it must be fairly applied to the rich as well as poor, and the weak as well as powerful.” In response, parliament will debate the petition live on January 18. You’ll be able to watch it online at parliamentlive.tv.
There’s been a recent trend of successful decisions to ban well-known controversial characters from crossing borders. Pick-up artist Julien Blanc, who was accused of sexual assault, was banned from entering Britain late 2014. Tyler the Creator was also banned entry last year before his Reading and Leeds shows because his early lyrics were offensive. He then had to cancel his September tour in Australia after the government there denied him a visa. Even seemingly innocent characters have been given the no-go: look at Fred Durst, recently slapped with a five year ban from Russia, deemed a threat to national security.
When you way up the situation using the logic applied when banning people entry for ‘unacceptable behaviour’, it should be a no-brainer to deny Trump entry. He’s said London and Paris are “so radicalised police fear for their own lives”. His racist rhetoric escalated after the massacre in San Bernardino, California in December, when he called for the ban on all Muslims trying to enter America. Even David Cameron has called Trump’s comments about Muslims “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong”, according to CNN. In addition, the Scottish government aren’t happy with him after he fought them over the installation of 11 offshore wind turbines because it would blight the view from his luxury golf course in the city of Aberdeen…
It’d be a reasonably bold move for government to stop him coming here considering he could soon be the US President – albeit in a nightmarish world – but a brilliantly positive show of solidarity towards the UK Muslim population.