A petition calling to stop a state visit to the UK by US President Donald Trump has reached more than a million signatures.
The petition was launched in the wake of the introduction of a US policy that indefinitely bans entry to the US for all Syrian refugees and suspends entry for all nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days.
The “Muslim ban” affects those born in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
The petition states:
“Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.”
On Sunday, Graham Guest, a solicitor began the petition, said told the Press Association news agency:
“A state visit legitimises his presidency and he will use the photo opportunities and being seen with the Queen to get re-elected.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged the prime minister to postpone Trump’s visit, but Theresa May has rejected the call to suspend his visit, describing it as a “populist” measure.
May has refused to condemn Trump’s Muslim ban, despite being directly asked to comment at a number of press conferences. Her repeated failure to criticise the policy was described by Labour Shadow Attorney-General Shami Chakrabarti as “appeasement”.
Protests have erupted across the US in the wake of the ban, and further protests in the UK are expected to take place after 17:00 in London, Bristol, Brighton, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Swansea and York.
