A PETITION calling for Donald Trump to be blocked from addressing the UK Parliament during his state visit has attracted more than 40,000 signatures in a week.
In the US, Trump’s approval ratings have fallen to the lowest level for any president in 70 years as he marks 100 days in office.
More than 250 petitions were launched on Change.org calling for Trump’s state visit to be cancelled following a formal invitation from Keir Starmer, but it appears it is set to go ahead in September.
Another 38 Degrees petition calling for the visit to be pulled gathered more than 129,000 signatures.
It will be his second state visit to the UK after he was hosted by the late Queen in 2019 during his first presidency.
Campaigners have now turned their attention to Westminster with a petition to keep Trump out of Parliament amassing more than 43,000 signatures.
Corin Dalby, a philanthropist and campaigner behind the new petition, said the UK should not be providing a platform to the US President.
He said: “President Trump has shown a consistent disregard for democratic values.
“He has made troubling remarks about the UK and its institutions, and is unable to clearly condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine – which all UK political parties have strongly opposed.
Earlier this month The National revealed most Scots back cancelling Trump’s state visit.
Just 21% of Scottish people think Britain should roll out the red carpet for the US President, polling by Find Out Now showed.
Explaining his reason for starting the latest Trump petition, Dalby went on: “We are a proud democratic country, and we should be protective of that status. Therefore, we should be extremely vigilant by not affording anyone, regardless of their position or status, and who do not align themselves, either verbally or by actions, with our own values with the privilege of addressing Parliament.”
During Trump’s last state visit in 2019, he did not address Parliament after then-Speaker John Bercow said he would oppose it.
Two years earlier, Bercow said that addressing the Lords and the Commons was “an earned honour” and explained that his opposition to an appearance from Trump had been prompted by his proposed ban on visitors to the US from Muslim countries.
The new petition urges current Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, and his counterpart in the Lords, Lord McFall of Alcluith, to take the same stance.
“The values of British democracy are not for sale,” Dalby adds. “They are not negotiable.”
The petition can be viewed here.
