A petition calling on the British government to cancel a planned state visit to Britain by U. S. President Donald Trump has been signed by more than a million people.
The petition grows by thousands of new signatures every hour, but Downing Street has insisted the visit by the U.S. president will go ahead.
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokesperson said: “An invitation has been extended to President Trump and accepted.”
Media in London were quoting unnamed sources at Number 10 saying that cancelling the invitation would undo everything achieved by May during her official visit to the White House last week.
The source added: “America is a huge important ally. We have to think long term.”
The petition was launched by solicitor Graham Guest after Trump signed an executive order on Friday, under which refugees from all over the world will be suspended from entering the United States for 120 days while all immigration from so-called “countries with terrorism concerns” will be suspended for 90 days.
Countries included in the ban are Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The total population from these countries exceeds 130 million.
Under parliamentary rules in Britain, an official petition must be considered for a full debate in the House of Commons if it achieves 100,000 names.
Britain’s foreign secretary is scheduled to make a statement about the issue to Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons later Monday.
Britain’s main opposition Labour party were among a growing group of organisations urging the government to stop the visit.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Donald Trump should not be welcomed to Britain while be abuses our shared values with his shameful Muslim ban and attacks on refugees’ and women’s rights.”
“Theresa May would be failing the British people if she did not postpone the state visit and condemn Trump’s actions in the clearest terms.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan described Trump’s ban on refugees and immigrants from certain countries as “shameful and cruel.”
“The U.S. has a proud history of welcoming and resettling refugees. The president can’t just turn his back on this global crisis — all countries need to play their part. While every country has the right to set its own immigration policies, this new policy flies in the face of the values of freedom and tolerance that the U.S. was built upon,” said Khan.
In Trump’s original executive order, the ban would apply to people holding dual passports if one of those passports was for one of the seven designated nations.
This was amended after May ordered her foreign secretary Boris Johnson to contact the U.S. authorities, allowing British passport holders access to the United States even if they held second passports from one of the named countries.
Protests against Trump’s measures are planned for later on Monday in a number of major British cities.
No date has been fixed for the proposed state visit.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.