LONDON ��Members of the British Parliament from all parties may boycott U.S. President Donald Trump if he's invited to address Parliament during a planned state visit this year, said lawmaker John McDonnell, an ally of opposition Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn.
While details including date and itinerary have yet to be set, visitors such as Trump's predecessors Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan have been invited to address both houses of Parliament, as was German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Asked in a BBC radio interview whether there would be "rows of empty seats where Labour should be sitting" if Trump were accorded the honor, McDonnell said, "I don't think it will just be Labour."
"I find it a disgrace what he's done so far. Most of us thought that his campaign slogans were slogans but now he's implementing them as policies," said McDonnell, the Labour Party's finance spokesman. "I think there will be lots of people offended by his visit."
Prime Minister Theresa May invited Trump last month when she became the first foreign leader to meet him as president. It prompted a backlash domestically, where even May has described Trump's policies as "divisive." Parliament, on Feb. 20, will debate an online public petition, signed by more than 1.8 million people, calling for the visit to be canceled.
Such visits take place after and invitation from Queen Elizabeth II, though it's the government that recommends them. They traditionally include a horse-drawn procession, a state banquet and a stay at either Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
"He is really reveling in that idea he is going to Buckingham Palace and meeting the queen," McDonnell said. "I just don't feel he is the sort of person at the moment though, that his statements and actions deserve that."
