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| UK government faces cross-party calls for urgent debate on US travel ban | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The government is facing cross-party calls for an emergency debate about Donald Trump’s ban on people arriving in the US from seven Muslim-majority countries, as pressure built on Theresa May over the US president’s planned state visit to Britain. | |
| After tens of thousands of people again protested overnight in US cities and airports, the Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi and the former Labour leader Ed Miliband said they were calling jointly for an emergency debate on Trump’s ban on Monday. | |
| Baghdad-born Zahawi, who said on Sunday that he feared he would not be allowed into the US to see his sons who are studying there, tweeted that he and Miliband were seeking the debate. | |
| With @Ed_Miliband calling for an emergency debate on the divisive ban by the United States on Nationals from predominantly Muslim countries. | |
| Miliband said they both wanted this to be in addition to an expected statement from Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, or urgent question, later on Monday. | |
| Miliband tweeted: “We think it essential the House of Commons has proper chance immediately to debate & send out united message against this abhorrent policy.” | |
| At about the same time as the pair made the announcement, a parliamentary petition calling on May to cancel or downgrade Trump’s planned state visit to the UK this summer gathered more than 1m signatures in about 24 hours. | |
| The Labour MP Stephen Doughty has tabled an early day motion condemning Trump’s action and seeking that he be barred from addressing parliament on his state visit. Early day motions have no force but are a way for MPs to indicate their support for issues by signing them. Doughty’s motion was understood to be attracting good support. | |
| May also faces considerable pressure from within her own party to act over the Trump visit. Sayeeda Warsi, who became the first female Muslim cabinet minister under David Cameron, added her voice on Monday to the calls for it to be called off. | |
| “Those who run and govern this country bowing down to a man who holds the views that he holds, values which are not the same as British values, I think is sending out a very wrong signal,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. | |
| “If we want to continue to be a country that supports liberal, progressive values in which all have equal worth and equal value in our society, then we have to be clear that we voice that view and that opinion, so that people in this country know that whatever crazy things the president of the United States may be doing, it is not what we believe and not what we support.” | |
| However, Downing Street has said there are no plans to amend or call off Trump’s state visit. A spokesman said: “We extended the invitation and it was accepted.” | |
| A protest against Trump’s executive order is planned to be held outside Downing Street on Monday evening, with others expected in cities including in Bristol, Nottingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Manchester. | |
| Trump issued a statement overnight claiming his executive order did not specifically target Muslims and could be lifted in the future. | |
| Late on Sunday, the Foreign Office put out a statement about what it said was the position for UK nationals or dual nationals travelling to the US from the seven affected countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. | |
| Produced following talks between Johnson and the home secretary, Amber Rudd, and their US counterparts, it said that if people were travelling from the UK they should not be affected by the “extreme vetting” security checks, and even dual nationals should face no issues unless they were coming directly from one of those seven nations. | Produced following talks between Johnson and the home secretary, Amber Rudd, and their US counterparts, it said that if people were travelling from the UK they should not be affected by the “extreme vetting” security checks, and even dual nationals should face no issues unless they were coming directly from one of those seven nations. |
| This had not been the experience of some British travellers, however, with one Iran-born BBC journalist saying his phone and social media accounts were checked by US border officials on Sunday before he was allowed into Chicago. | |
| Ali Hamedani, a World Service reporter who was travelling on a British passport and has rescinded his Iranian nationality, said he was forced to hand over his phone and passwords and was subjected to long questioning. | Ali Hamedani, a World Service reporter who was travelling on a British passport and has rescinded his Iranian nationality, said he was forced to hand over his phone and passwords and was subjected to long questioning. |
| “It wasn’t pleasant at all,” he said. “To be honest with you, I was arrested back home in Iran in 2009 because I was working for the BBC and I felt the same this time.” | “It wasn’t pleasant at all,” he said. “To be honest with you, I was arrested back home in Iran in 2009 because I was working for the BBC and I felt the same this time.” |
| A Foreign Office statement about the deal, reached after Johnson spoke to Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, said the US had “reaffirmed its strong commitment to the expeditious processing of all travellers from the United Kingdom”. | A Foreign Office statement about the deal, reached after Johnson spoke to Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, said the US had “reaffirmed its strong commitment to the expeditious processing of all travellers from the United Kingdom”. |
| It was unclear what revisions had been passed to border officials to guarantee these assurances that Britons would not be affected. | It was unclear what revisions had been passed to border officials to guarantee these assurances that Britons would not be affected. |
| Johnson – who condemned Trump’s policy on Twitter on Sunday, saying it was wrong to stigmatise people on the basis of nationality – faced pressure to make a statement to the Commons or answer an urgent question from Labour and the SNP. | Johnson – who condemned Trump’s policy on Twitter on Sunday, saying it was wrong to stigmatise people on the basis of nationality – faced pressure to make a statement to the Commons or answer an urgent question from Labour and the SNP. |
| A Labour source said: “Whatever happens, we will be demanding to know why the Canadian government was able to provide assurance to its nationals on Saturday evening that they would be unaffected by the ban, at the same time that No 10 was only just getting round to looking into [its] implications.” | A Labour source said: “Whatever happens, we will be demanding to know why the Canadian government was able to provide assurance to its nationals on Saturday evening that they would be unaffected by the ban, at the same time that No 10 was only just getting round to looking into [its] implications.” |
| In the US, thousands of protesters massed in cities including New York, Washington and Boston, and at airports. One of the largest demonstrations took place at Battery Park in lower Manhattan, within sight of the Statue of Liberty. | In the US, thousands of protesters massed in cities including New York, Washington and Boston, and at airports. One of the largest demonstrations took place at Battery Park in lower Manhattan, within sight of the Statue of Liberty. |
| Some of the actors appearing at the Screen Actors Guild awards in Los Angeles also expressed their opposition. The British actor Dev Patel said the ban was “utterly devastating” and “horrible”. | Some of the actors appearing at the Screen Actors Guild awards in Los Angeles also expressed their opposition. The British actor Dev Patel said the ban was “utterly devastating” and “horrible”. |
| The presidential order places a 90-day ban on travel to the US for those from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen, seemingly including those with dual nationality. Trump has also banned refugees from entering the country for 120 days, and those seeking asylum from Syria have been banned indefinitely. | The presidential order places a 90-day ban on travel to the US for those from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen, seemingly including those with dual nationality. Trump has also banned refugees from entering the country for 120 days, and those seeking asylum from Syria have been banned indefinitely. |
| After May declined three times on Saturday to condemn the executive order during a press conference in Turkey, Downing Street released a statement overnight saying the government “does not agree” with this approach. On Sunday, Downing Street said May had convened a conference call with Johnson and Rudd, instructing them to speak to their equivalents in the US. | After May declined three times on Saturday to condemn the executive order during a press conference in Turkey, Downing Street released a statement overnight saying the government “does not agree” with this approach. On Sunday, Downing Street said May had convened a conference call with Johnson and Rudd, instructing them to speak to their equivalents in the US. |
| MPs from the prime minister’s own party have gone further, opting for a markedly different tone in condemning the president, with some questioning May’s decision to cosy up to Trump in Washington shortly before the ban was announced. | MPs from the prime minister’s own party have gone further, opting for a markedly different tone in condemning the president, with some questioning May’s decision to cosy up to Trump in Washington shortly before the ban was announced. |
| Writing in the Guardian, Sarah Wollaston said photographs of Trump grasping May’s hand as they walked through the White House “smacked of the unwelcome infantilising of a strong female leader”. | Writing in the Guardian, Sarah Wollaston said photographs of Trump grasping May’s hand as they walked through the White House “smacked of the unwelcome infantilising of a strong female leader”. |
| The Totnes MP wrote: “A shameful curtain of prejudice and discrimination is drawing across the land of the free and, if we are truly in a special relationship, true friends should be frank in saying so.” | The Totnes MP wrote: “A shameful curtain of prejudice and discrimination is drawing across the land of the free and, if we are truly in a special relationship, true friends should be frank in saying so.” |
| Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, also said state visits were intended to “celebrate and entrench the friendships and shared values between their respective countries … A state visit from the current president of the United States could not possibly occur in the best traditions of the enterprise while a cruel and divisive policy which discriminates against citizens of the host nation is in place. I hope President Trump immediately reconsiders his Muslim ban.” | Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, also said state visits were intended to “celebrate and entrench the friendships and shared values between their respective countries … A state visit from the current president of the United States could not possibly occur in the best traditions of the enterprise while a cruel and divisive policy which discriminates against citizens of the host nation is in place. I hope President Trump immediately reconsiders his Muslim ban.” |