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Trump executive order: Million sign petition to stop UK visit | Trump executive order: Million sign petition to stop UK visit |
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More than 1.3 million people have signed a petition urging the government to call off President Donald Trump's state visit to the UK, amid a row over his recent immigration measures. | |
Downing Street, however, said Theresa May was looking forward to the visit. | |
Boris Johnson is to address MPs on Monday amid confusion over whether UK dual nationals of seven banned Muslim-majority countries are affected. | |
Mr Trump's executive order on immigration has caused anger worldwide. | |
US airports have seen chaotic scenes as travellers were detained on arrival. | |
Protests in response to Mr Trump's order are expected to take place after 17:00 in London, Manchester, Bristol, Brighton, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Swansea and other UK cities. | |
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the row. | |
The Foreign Office said on Sunday the clampdown should not affect UK nationals travelling to the US, even if they had shared nationality with one of the countries on which restrictions have been placed. | |
But the US embassy in London has issued a statement telling any citizens of the seven countries in question and also those holding dual nationality not to apply for a visa for the time being. | |
The petition is now the second-most popular on the government's website, which was set up in July 2015. | |
PM Theresa May announced the state visit when she visited Washington to meet President Trump last week. | |
Downing Street said on Monday that Mrs May "extended an invitation on behalf of the Queen - and she was very happy to do so. | |
"The USA is one of this country's closest allies, and we look forward to hosting the president later this year." | |
Mrs May faced criticism after she hesitated to condemn Mr Trump's immigration restrictions when asked about them on Friday. | |
The government has since made clear that it disagrees with the measures. | |
Jeremy Corbyn has urged the PM to postpone the visit: | |
"Donald Trump should not be welcomed to Britain while he abuses our shared values with his shameful Muslim ban and attacks on refugees' and women's rights," the Labour leader said. | |
State visits are grand occasions requiring an invitation from the Queen, and are distinct from regular visits by heads of state. The Queen usually receives one or two heads of state a year. | State visits are grand occasions requiring an invitation from the Queen, and are distinct from regular visits by heads of state. The Queen usually receives one or two heads of state a year. |
On Friday Mr Trump signed an executive order halting the US refugee programme for 120 days, indefinitely banning all Syrian refugees and suspending the entry of all nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries. | On Friday Mr Trump signed an executive order halting the US refugee programme for 120 days, indefinitely banning all Syrian refugees and suspending the entry of all nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries. |
On Saturday afternoon the petition had just 60 signatures but reached the 100,000 needed to be considered for debate by Parliament just after midday on Sunday. | |
When it passed the million mark, it was found that about 30,000 came from outside the UK. | |
It is now second only to last year's petition signed by more than four million people calling for a fresh referendum on whether to leave the European Union. | |
A 2015 campaign seeking to ban Mr Trump, then a presidential candidate, from entering the UK gained more than 500,000 signatures. | A 2015 campaign seeking to ban Mr Trump, then a presidential candidate, from entering the UK gained more than 500,000 signatures. |
Shadow Attorney-General Shami Chakrabarti said the government's position "sounds like appeasement". | |
Alex Salmond, the SNP's foreign affairs spokesman, said he thought the state visit was "a very bad idea". | Alex Salmond, the SNP's foreign affairs spokesman, said he thought the state visit was "a very bad idea". |
And Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the visit should not happen while the executive order was in place. | And Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the visit should not happen while the executive order was in place. |