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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow and Kevin Rawlinson

Thousands protest across UK in wake of US travel ban – as it happened

Thousands protest Trump Muslim ban in London

May defends state Trump visit invitation as thousands protest US president's travel ban

  • Thousands of people across the country joined protests against Donald Trump’s travel ban imposed on Muslim majority states. They demonstrated in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and other cities.
  • Speaking after they met on Monday, the Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny and British prime minister Theresa May reaffirmed their desire not to return to the “borders of the past” between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit.
  • May brushed aside questions about her invitation to Donald Trump to conduct a state visit to the UK after more than 1.5 million people signed a petition demanding it be withdrawn.
  • In an emergency Commons debate on Trump’s travel ban, the former Labour leader Ed Miliband said the measure would not make the world safer. While he did not disagree with strict vetting, he insisted a blanket ban was not justified.
  • The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, opposed Trump’s travel ban, calling it “divisive and wrong” in a statement to the Commons on Monday afternoon.
  • He insisted that the government had secured reassurances from the White House that no one carrying a British passport would be prevented from entering the USA.

Updated

Here’s more from Matthew Taylor outside Downing Street:

Debora Kayembe, a human rights lawyer and Congolese refugee who specialises in resettling refugees in the US, won loud cheers when she told a substantial protest rally at the Scottish parliament: “I want you to understand today, that you are bigger than Mr Trump.”

Several thousand demonstrators, including students, anti-racist activists, refugees rights campaigners and political activists, had marched from a civic square at the Mound through central Edinburgh to Holyrood, shouting “say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here”.

Kayembe, who won political asylum in the UK in 2005, told the crowd: “this is about equality, fraternity and respect for each other,” before adding: “you need to be in my skin to understand how I feel every day, not being able to return home.”

Other speakers linked Trump’s ban on refugees and Muslims from seven countries entering the US to the prime minister’s official visit to meet Trump in the US last week. Rhea Wolfson, a member of Labour’s national executive committee, said: “we say it loud and clear to Theresa May: you shame yourself and you shame your country.”

The recently-formed protest group Scotland Against Trump is staging further protests in Edinburgh on 11 February, including a further demonstration outside the US consulate, scene of a rally earlier this month that drew hundreds of protestors.

Police are confirming they’ve seen no trouble on Whitehall this evening:

Updated

It seems to be quietening down a little at Whitehall, my colleague Matthew Taylor reports. Here’s his view from on the ground:

Updated

In London, the shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told the crowd of demonstrators that she had come on behalf of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Donald Trump has been president for only a few days, and look at what he is doing. We need to resist the Islamophobia and scapegoating of Muslims, we have got to resist it whether it is in the United States or here in the UK.

Demonstrations have also got underway in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee.

Placards and banners were held aloft in the former as a crowd of around 500 people chanted “hope not fear, refugees are welcome here”. Demonstrations continued in George Square after a three-hour rally in Buchanan Street, Glasgow.

Julia Steinberger, an academic at Leeds University, is an American citizen and is at the march in Manchester with her 4-year-old son Jacob. Her father arrived in the US on the Kindertransport.

This is very personal. Lots of people are dying because of the attitudes that Trump represents.

I don’t think I had a choice about whether or not to come here. It’s just too important. Trump is Islamophobic, but he is also anti-Semitic. I don’t think there’s a single vulnerable or minority group that he has a fondness for.

Liz Parker, 26, says it’s important that people send a message to the government that they don’t agree with Trump’s actions. “To think that people in the world think that we agree because our leader refuses to speak out about it is ridiculous.”

She says a demo like this one serves to get the message out. “Even just being here and it being in the news and on the TV means people around the world are going to see that we don’t agree with this and we want to help people. We don’t care if someone is a Muslim or a Christian or what colour their skin is. We just want to live in harmony with the human race.”

Updated

A crowd at least 2,000-strong gathered in Manchester’s Albert Square outside the city’s town hall to demonstrate against Donald Trump’s immigration directive.

The site is a stone’s throw from Lincoln Square, where a statue of US president Abraham Lincoln was erected to give thanks to Lancashire’s cotton workers for “their fight for the abolition of slavery during the American Civil War”. An economic blockade of slave-picked cotton from the southern states caused massive unemployment in the region’s cotton industry.

Clare Solomon, 43, an agency catering worker, said:

Donald Trump did not get the support of the majority of Americans who voted in the presidential election. He has even less support for his sexist, racist, war mongering, pro-business policies in this country,” she says.

The grovelling of Theresa May – who hasn’t been elected prime minister by anyone, even in her own party – is repugnant and unacceptable. Her offer of a state visit is appeasement of a reactionary bully. It should be withdrawn.

She says she hopes that tonight’s demo will only be the beginning of resistance to Trump. “Last week [at the women’s protest] we could just feel that something new was in the air,” says Solomon. “People were talking about it all over the place. In the coffee shops, on the bus this morning on the way to work ... there’s a real buzz. There’s a real feeling of anger, but also a feeling of hope that’s there’s something we can do if we all unite together.”

Dean Smith, a 24-year-old sports journalist, is the main organiser of this evening’s demo in Manchester.

On Saturday night Owen Jones arranged a similar protest in London and I saw people posting on the event page asking if there was a Manchester equivalent. I’m not really much of an activist or anything myself, I just thought someone needed to start the event, so I did it.

Smith says it was a tweet by the writer David Slack that prompted him to act on his horror at Trump’s directive.

It just made me think I need to do anything I can because [what Trump is doing is] wrong and it’s racist and it’s vile,” says Smith. “I think the fact that more than 2,000 people have replied to the event shows that I’m not the only one who thinks that.

More seasoned activists have since pitched in to help Smith arrange tonight’s event, which was organised in just two days.

Several thousand anti-Trump demonstrators packed out a civic square at the Mound in central Edinburgh, before marching to the Scottish parliament.

They chanted “say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here”, and “resist, revoke, stop Donald Trump”.

Organised by left wing campaigners, anti-racist groups and student leaders, the demonstrators heard Maggie Chapman, a senior figure in the Scottish Greens, call for the “petulant bully” Donald Trump to be barred from visiting the Scottish parliament on his state visit to the UK.

Trump was greeted by an angry picket when he visited Holyrood to protest at Scotland’s heavy support for wind farms about five years ago.

To cheers from protesters at the Mound, Assad Khan, of Edinburgh university’s Islamic society, said: “This campaign of dehumanisation has to stop, of women, of Muslims, of the LGBT community, of disabled people, of all minority groups. It has to stop.”

Updated

Several hundred people gathered at the statue of Labour hero Aneurin Bevan to protest against Donald Trump’s travel ban. They ranged from hardened left-leaning activists to people who had never been on a demonstration before.

Student Jim Gray said he had been shopping for new trainers in the nearby St David’s centre when he saw someone walking past with an anti-Trump placard. “So I followed them and here I am. It suddenly made sense to me. I’d been worrying about the travel ban and this seems a way of making my views known. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

The protest had been organised by Ash Cox, an 18-year-old history student at Cardiff University. “I’d heard others were taking place across the UK. I thought we had to have a demonstration in Cardiff too. It took off so quickly.”

Claudia Boes, an occupational therapist, organised an anti-Trump women’s march earlier this month. “I think rather than there being individual protests, this is going to turn into a movement,” she said.

Chants that rolled up and down Queen Street in the Welsh capital included: “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.”

Aled Edwards, the chief executive of Churches Together Wales, said: “I’ve had the privilege of working with refugees for the past 15 years and I think [Trump’s] treatment of refugees has been appalling. What you’ll find here in Cardiff, the rest of the UK and throughout the world is that enough is enough. We have to make our own personal protests.”

Omar, a 17-year-old Muslim student, said his confidence had been knocked by the start to Trump’s presidency; so much so that he asked for his surname not to be used. “I’ve travelled quite a bit in Europe and in the US. Suddenly, I’m thinking will I be able to go to the US. I was born in Cardiff. I feel British and Muslim. But what he is doing is scaring me.”

Updated

Thousands of people gathered across the UK on Monday evening to voice their opposition to Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting several Muslim majority countries.

Many went to Downing Street, where the scale of the protest appeared to take both organisers and police by surprise and, by 7pm, the crowd stretched the length of Whitehall.

Speakers, including the Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti, were barely audible above the crowd’s chants of “refugees welcome here” and “Theresa May, shame on you”. Amid the demonstrators was Browan Murphy, 17, who had travelled from East Sussex. “I have just felt I needed to do something. I am scared about what Donald Trump is doing and am angry about how Theresa May has reacted,” she said.

Lotte Rice, 28, from London, said she was also “really scared and really angry”. But she added: “It feels like this is a key time to stand up and make our voices heard. What is happening is dangerous. But, if we come together, something positive can come from this.”

The demonstration in London was one of several around the UK highlighting opposition to Trump’s executive order, issued at the weekend, which imposed a travel ban on people from several Muslim majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

RTE radio is reporting tonight that, for the first time in Ireland, US Homeland Security officials at Dublin airport have turned away a traveller from one of the countries on the banned list imposed by Donald Trump’s executive order.

The Department of Transport confirmed this happened at passenger clearance, which is under the control of US Homeland Security, at Dublin Airport. No details were given as to the nationality of the individual denied entry to what is effectively US territory in a section of the airport where Homeland Security officials process travellers through immigration control into the United States.

Enda Kenny defended his decision to travel to Washington DC on St Patrick’s Day, when Trump will host a party celebrate Ireland’s national day. Kenny said one of the reasons he wanted to attend the annual ceremony was to raise the plight of 50,000 undocumented Irish citizens currently living and working illegally in the United States.

That concludes the joint press conference.

Both Kenny and May stressed their desire to maintain as open a relationship between the two nations as possible, each repeating the mantra that no wants a return to the “borders of the past”.

Each was somewhat reluctant to heap too heavy a criticism on Trump’s travel ban, though each indicated they did not agree with it. May said twice that her “informal invitation” to Trump to conduct a state visit stood.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny warned the prime minister that any post-Brexit ‘hard border’ would have “very negative consequences” for peace and stability on the island of Ireland. The Irish premier said he and Theresa May agreed to keep the Irish border open and fluid.

May, referring to those MPs who intend to vote against article 50, says the people voted on this question and the majority voted to leave the European Union. She characterises the decision for MPs as one between whether or not they support enacting the will expressed in the referendum.

May now saying that the UK “takes a different approach” to Trump’s travel ban, saying she did not introduce anything similar during her time as home secretary.

Kenny has stressed that, despite his openness to talking to Trump, he opposes his travel ban.

Miliband says if the government does nothing, that will amount to complicity.

He says Trump is a bully. You have to stand up to bullies, he says.

We cannot, on the basis of our keenness to get a trade deal, shrink from speaking truth to the most powerful man in the world, he says.

And Miliband has finished.

That’s all from me for today. My colleague Kevin Rawlinson will be writing the blog for the rest of the evening.

Updated

May now asked if there are any circumstances in which Donald Trump’s planned state visit could be cancelled. She says she has informally invited him and the invitation stands.

Kenny says he also intends to meet Trump in order to speak face-to-face to “explain to him the issues and the matters of importance for us here”. He also points out the number of Irish expatriates who have moved to the United States - both documented and undocumented - saying he does not want Ireland to become isolationist.

Miliband says MPs should read an article his brother David, the former Labour foreign secretary, wrote about Trump’s policy for the New York Times. His brother points out that the ban on Syrian refugees is particularly irrational because they are already subject to extreme vetting.

May, asked if she is removing all tariffs at the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, May says she wants as “seamless and frictionless a border as possible”. And Kenny almost exactly mirrors May’s phrasing. They have been united on this point throughout the press conference.

A Tory MP asks what the difference is between Trump’s policy and Obama.

Miliband says Trump is imposing a blanket ban. Obama’s ban was not a blanket ban.

Theresa May says the UK will remain a reliable partner, adding that family ties between the two countries are strong. She says there will be no “return to the borders of the past”.

She also reaffirms the UK’s commitment to the Belfast Agreement, or Good Friday Agreement.

Miliband says he would like to see EU leaders convene a special meeting to discuss the Trump travel ban. That would show Trump how seriously people in Europe feel about this, he says.

Back in the Commons Ed Miliband is still speaking. He says this clearly is a Muslim ban. He says the former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani admitted this on TV yesterday, saying Trump had called him asking him how to implement a “Muslim ban”.

Jeremy Corbyn has just issued a statement about Trump’s state visit. He said:

Let no one be in doubt that I will oppose, and the Labour party will oppose, all those who fan the flames of fear at home and abroad.

I support the demand of millions of British people: Donald Trump should not be welcomed on a state visit to this country while he continues to propagate his anti-women, anti-Muslim and anti-Mexican policies.

This world defeated segregation, we defeated Apartheid and we will defeat this nasty policy created to sow division and hatred.

His invite should be withdrawn until the executive orders are gone and every element of them repealed.

History judges us by the actions we take in opposing oppression.

I am proud that during the 1980s and 1990s I stood with Labour party members, trade unionists and faith leaders opposing the racist regime of South Africa.

I was there on the day Margret Thatcher opened her door to PW Botha while Nelson Mandela languished in a prison cell.

Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative party were on the wrong side of history then just as Theresa May and her Conservative party are on the wrong side of history today.

The Labour party stands unequivocally with those demonstrating today and will do so until we are victorious.

I have written to Theresa May to demand that she withdraws her offer to Donald Trump of a state visit.

The prime minister Theresa May is holding a joint press conference with the Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Kenny has opened it saying that the two governments will work together to define the relationship between the two countries following the UK’s exit from the European Union.

He prioritises an open trade relationship and close cooperation across the policy spectrum, as well as saying he wants to avoid a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Enda Kenny and Theresa May have just started a press conference in Dublin. My colleague Kevin Rawlinson will be covering it here, and he will be taking over the blog for the rest of the day.

Ed Miliband's speech

Ed Miliband, the former Labour, is opening the emergency debate on the Trump travel ban.

He says it will not make the world safer.

He says MPs should read the Trump executive order. He says section one cites the rationale for the proposal. It mentions 9/11, a shocking attack. But none of the 9/11 attackers came from the countries covered.

He says he does not disagree with strict vetting. But a blanket ban is not justified.

Bercow allows emergency debate on Trump’s travel ban

John Bercow, the Speaker, says this is a suitable matter for debate.

  • Bercow allows emergency debate on Trump’s travel ban. The debate will be held now.

He says this means the business set aside for today will take place afterwards, meaning the House will sit beyond 10pm.

Miliband says there should be a proper debate, so MPs from all sides can express their views.

This ban is clearly discriminatory, he says. It involves repudiating the convention on refugees. And it will make the world less safe.

An emergency debate would allow the Commons to try to get this overturned.

Ed Miliband's application for emergency debate on Trump travel ban

Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, is now requesting an urgent debate on the Trump travel ban.

He says he would like the Commons to debate the need for this to be repealed.

This ban has provoked outrage around the world, he says.

On a point of order the SNP’s Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh says that, as she was speaking, the Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Soames was making “woof, woof” noises at her.

Soames says thought Ahmed-Sheikh was being snappy towards the minister and that he was trying to make a point about her canine behaviour. He says he did not meant to cause offence, and he apologises.

Updated

The SNP’s Martin Docherty-Hughes asks if Johnson thinks it is surprising that the Trump ban does not cover Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and the UAE, countries that have been responsible for terrorists that have killed Americans.

Johnson says the list of seven countries was originally drawn up by the Obama administration when it was applying restrictive visa regulations.

The SNP’s Stewart McDonald asks if the government has at any point told the Americans their policy would be in breach of the Geneva convention on refugees.

Johnson says the government has made representations, both about the policy for refugees and the seven-country travel ban.

Labour’s Kate Green asks Johnson why he cannot see that people think this order is discriminatory against Muslims. Trump himself has said Christians would be exempt.

Johnson says he has said this is divisive, discriminatory and wrong. Some MPs think it will be counter-productive, and that is a point the government is making too, he says.

The SNP’s Kirsten Oswald says the government should be condeming this “disgraceful, racist order”.

Johnson says Oswald’s question was composed in advance. Anyone who heard what Johnson has said would not think that was fair, he says.

Johnson says countries around the world want the UK to engage with the new US administrations, and to get across its concerns.

Labour’s Jess Phillips asks if Johnson can confirm what Gary Gibbon has just said on his Channel 4 News blog about Theresa May being old about the ban before it was announced.

Johnson says he cannot comment on confidential conversations. But as soon as the government knew what was happening, it intervened.

Here is the blog. And here is an extract.

Team Trump told Theresa May when she was in the White House that they were about to ban refugees from coming to the US, using an Executive Order. The US administration team don’t appear to have gone into detail about what exactly they planned for dual nationals. It’s not clear whether they listed Muslim countries from which visitors would be banned.

What is clear is that there was enough of a sniff of a major switch in US policy flagged up in the White House to suggest you really ought to have an opinion on it.

But many hours later in Ankara, Mrs May was still reluctant to share her views on President Trump’s ban on visitors from seven Muslim countries, only answering the question after three attempts from journalists and even then failing to take a view on it.

Labour’s Shabana Mahmood says this is a Muslim ban. Why will Johnson refuse to accept that? The Trump administration admit this.

Johnson says the president himself has rejected that interpretation. He says these seven countries were countries selected by the Obama administration for restrictive visa conditions.

Labour’s Ian Murray says the government is so desperate to secure a trade deal with the US that it is prepared to condone this policy.

Johnson says he does not accept that.

Labour’s Stephen Doughty asks if the UK will take in extra Syrian refugees to compensate for the US ban. And will he cancel the state visit?

Johnson says the UK has a proud record of taking refugees.

He says the Queen has extended the state visit invitation. It will go ahead.

Labour’s Stephen Pound says, in the Art of the Deal, Trump says a good strategy is to start with a demand that is completely outrageous. Then less outrageous demands will seem acceptable.

Johnson says anyone looking at Trump will conclude “his bark is considerably worse than his bite”. The UK has a good opportunity to work with him, not least on a trade deal, he says.

Flick Drummond, a Conservative, says she was born in Yemen. She is due to go to the US for an conference. Can Johnson assure her that she will not be stopped?

Johnson says yes. If she does encounter a problem, she should get in touch, he says.

Labour’s Paula Sheriff says, if Johnson wants to make comments about taste, he should remember that Trump’s language about grabbing women by the pussy is unacceptable.

Johnson says the prime minister has repeatedly said that was unacceptable.

Philip Davies, a Conservative, says the state visit by Trump is absolutely in the national interests. If countries did not get a state visit because they handled something badly, then no country would get one.

Johnson agrees. He says, as far as he knows, both Robert Mugabe and Nicolae Ceaușescu got a state visit.

John Bercow, the speaker, says he is glad he never had to meet either of those two.

Labour’s Sharon Hodgson asks why it took the UK government 17 hours longer than Canada to get the same assurances of its citizens as it did for Britons.

Johnson says he cannot speak for the Canadians.

Labour’s Lucy Powell says the emptiness of Johnson’s statement has demeaned his office. During his campaign Trump spoke about banning Muslims. Does he think that is what this ban is?

Johnson says he does not see it like this.

Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP, says if politicians refuse to stand up to hatred, they give the wrong message.

Johnson says he agrees with a lot of this. That is why he and the prime minister have said what they have said about the measure.

In response to a question from a Tory, Johnson says that all seven countries covered by the travel ban refuse to admit people with Israeli passports.

In a subsequent question, Will Quince, a Conservative, says there are 16 countries that ban people with Israeli passports.

Johnson says he is glad Quince raised this. He does not think people are aware of this, he says.

Jake Berry, a Conservative, asks when the government found out about the travel ban. Was Theresa May told in advance?

Johnson says the government found out about it when it was announced.

  • Johnson confirms that government was not given advance warning of the travel ban.

Some Labour MPs are furious about the tone Boris Johnson is adopting.

Lammy’s second tweet refers to the fact that Johnson responded to Lammy’s question by accusing him of taking sanctimony to new heights.

Johnson says the US has a very distinguished record when it comes to taking in refugees and immigrants. There are 55m people in the country who were born somewhere else, he says.

Huffington Post’s Owen Bennett says Boris Johnson is not the best person to lecture others about inappropriate world war two analogies.

Ben Howlett, a Conservative, says this dangerous trend towards nationalism has been wrongly described as populism. Does he agree we must stand up against bigotry? He says Churchill spoke in the war about how neutral countries were like those who fed the crocodile, hoping to be eaten last.

Johnson says he does not accept the comparison with the 1930s. The American government is democratically elected, he says.

Labour’s Karen Buck says MPs with large Muslim populations feel a deep sense of anxiety about this. A school party from her constituency is due to go to America. Two pupils have already been denied visa waivers. Will Johnson help?

Johnson says he will do what he can to help. Of course we must speak up for the rights of the Muslim minorities, he says.

The Labour MP Mike Gapes describes Theresa May as “Theresa the appeaser”.

Johnson says he thinks comparisons with the 1930s are totally wrong.

Labour’s David Winnick says, if President Trump comes to the UK, under no circumstances should he address parliament in Westminster Hall.

Johnson says he is sure the mood of parliament should be taken into account. But there is no reason why Trump should not get a state visit and every reason why he should get one.

The Green MP Caroline Lucas says Johnson said a few minutes ago that Theresa May was one of the first word leaders to criticise the Trump policy. She says that shows fake news is arriving at the Commons.

Bob Neill, the Conservative chair of the justice committee, says the UK-US relationship is based on mutual respect for the rule of law.

Johnson agrees, and says the UK is more likely to get a hearing if it treats the US with respect.

Nadhim Zahawi, a Conservative who said yesterday he thought he would be affected by the order (he was born in Iraq) if the American embassy has updated its advice to make it clear that dual nationals will not be affected.

Johnson says that has happened as he has been speaking.

Anna Soubry, a Conservative, asks if Johnson agrees with what Sir Mo Farah said about the Trump policy.

Johnson says he is delighted Farah is able to return to the US.

John Redwood, a Conservative, says the American political system can be relied upon to correct any excesses.

Johnson says he trusts the American system to bring “balance”.

Updated

Labour’s Dennis Skinner says he recalls hiding during the way from two fascist dictators. He says Trump is another fascist. He should not be coming to the UK, and is not fit to follow in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela.

Johnson says he does not recall Mussolini bombing the UK. He says he does not accept Skinner’s comparison.

UPDATE: This is from the BBC’s Daniel Sandford.

Updated

Here is the start of the Press Association story on Johnson’s statement.

Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban will not affect British passport holders, Boris Johnson said, as he branded discrimination on grounds of nationality “divisive and wrong”.

The foreign secretary told MPs that Britons “remain welcome to travel to the US” and the country’s embassy in London had confirmed President Trump’s executive order would make “no difference” to British passport holders.

Johnson said: “The general principle is that all British passport holders remain welcome to travel to the US.

“We have received assurances from the US embassy that this executive order will make no difference to any British passport holder, irrespective of their country of birth or whether they hold another passport.”

He added: “This is not our policy, nor is it a measure that this Government would consider. I have already made clear our anxiety about measures that discriminate on grounds of nationality in ways that are divisive and wrong.”

Labour’s Hilary Benn asks if an Iraqi mother resident with a child in the US would be able to travel to the US in the event of having to go there for the child’s funeral.

Johnson says he expects such a case to be processed expeditiously.

Sir Simon Burns, a Conservative, says Trump’s policy is “despicable” and “immoral”. Does Johnson remember Kennedy’s words about how people who ride tigers end up inside them?

Johnson says Burns’ comments will be heard in the US.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the home affairs committee, says Johnson’s language does not go far enough. Has he urged the government to lift the ban and to stop stigmatising Muslims. She says the fact this was announced on Holocaust Memorial Day makes it worse.

Johnson says he has made his views clear. He has called it divisive and wrong. But he would not do what Labour proposes, which is to disengage with the Trump administration. That would be against the interests of Britons.

Julian Lewis, the Conservative chair of the defence committee, says there must be no question of refusing to welcome President Trump to Britain. He says he can come here so that we can put him right.

Johnson says Trump said at the end of last week that he backed Nato.

Our closest ally should get a state visit, he says.

Johnson says MPs can “exhaust the wells of outrage” if they want to carry on denouncing this policy. He has made it clear that it is wrong to promulgate polices that stigmatise people on the grounds of nationality. He believes that strongly, he says. But he has obtained protections for British citizens.

Crispin Blunt, the Conservative chair of the foreign affairs committee, asks if Johnson agrees with the criticisms of the policy made by Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham.

Johnson says their comments show this is a matter of lively discussion on Capitol Hill. He says the UK government does not support the policy.

Johnson is responding to Thornberry.

He says the government acted quickly, and has received assurances.

He says Labour’s approach, to “pointlessly demonise” the Trump administration, would have been counterproductive.

Johnson says US says 'all British passport holders' welcome to travel to America

Here is the key quote from Boris Johnson.

I’m able to provide the following clarification. The general principle is that all British passport holders remain welcome to travel to the US.

We have received assurances from the US embassy that this executive order will make no difference to any British passport holder irrespective of their country of birth or whether they hold another passport.

In any case, the executive order is a temporary measure intended to last for 90 days until the US system has added new security precautions.

Updated

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, says she had advance sight of the statement. But it was so short she thought pages were missing.

Johnson says British passport holders will remain able to visit the US.

Johnson says he has spoken to the US administration, and so has Amber Rudd, the home secretary.

The main principle is that all British passport holders remain free to visit the US, he says.

  • Johnson says British passport holders will remain able to visit the US.

He says this measure is not one that the UK would take.

But this country’s relationship with the US is extremely important, he says. The US and the UK work very closely together.

He says Theresa May’s visit to the US was very successful.

Where we have differences with the US, we will not quail from expressing them, he says.

Johnson suggests Trump’s policy is “divisive and wrong”

Boris Johnson is making his statement now.

He says this is not UK policy, nor is it a measure that the goverment would consider.

He says he has already made clear his concerns about measures that discriminate on the grounds of nationality in ways that are “divisive and wrong”.

  • Johnson suggests Trump’s policy is “divisive and wrong”.

Hopefully someone will ask Boris Johnson if he still thinks Donald Trump is “in many aspects a liberal guy from New York”. That is the way Johnson described him in an interview shortly after Trump’s election as president.

Boris Johnson's Commons statement on Trump travel ban

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, is about to make a Commons statement on the Trump travel ban.

This is the statement the Foreign Office released last night about how the ban will affect British nationals and people with dual nationality. It suggests the only Britons affected should be dual nationals from one of the seven countries - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - who are travelling to the US from one of those countries.

Carwyn Jones, the first minister of Wales, told reporters after the JMC meeting in Cardiff that he had been disturbed by Trump’s travel ban. He said:

I’m greatly concerned about what happened over the weekend. It’s very difficult to see how a visit can go ahead in the summer without it being very controversial. I think I reflect the views of most people in Britain when I say I don’t agree with what was done over the course of the weekend. I think it will be very difficult for that state visit to continue with things as they are. If things change, then the situation might well change.

And, on Brexit, he said the discussions at the JMC had been “useful”. But he added:

There is a lot of work to do. We want to play a full part in the process. It’s all about jobs at the end of the day, making sure we protect jobs and our economy.

We do now need more meat on the bones as far as what the UK government proposes to do as we leave the EU.

Asked if he thought the Welsh government was being listened to, Jones said:

So far so good but this is not about being listened to or being managed. This is about being a full part of the process.

We don’t know what the UK government’s view is in detail on so many things. The right things were said in there, we need to see delivery.

He added: “Article 50 has to be triggered to my mind. The people of Wales voted to leave the EU. I’m not going to stand in the way of that. It’s what happens afterwards that’s important.”

Carwyn Jones leaving the JMC meeting at City Hall in Cardiff.
Carwyn Jones leaving the JMC meeting at City Hall in Cardiff. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

Sturgeon tells May she must show Scotland is being listened to before end of March

Speaking after the joint ministerial committee meeting in Cardiff, Nicola Sturgeon repeated the point she made in her pre-JMC statement about the UK government being unwilling to compromise. But she also indicated that she would decide by the end of March whether she felt Scotland was being listened to. It sounded like an ultimatum. She told reporters:

I came here today determined to find some grounds for compromise, some way of trying to square the circle of the UK-wide vote to leave and the Scottish vote to remain, but I also came with a very direct message to the UK government, that so far the compromise or the attempts at compromise have come only from the Scottish government.

There has been no willingness to meet in the middle on the part of the UK government.

In terms of me getting a sense of whether Scotland is going to be listened to at all, that period between now and triggering of article 50 is absolutely crucial.

The next few weeks are not going to resolve every issue of Brexit, but in terms of me being able to judge whether Scotland’s voice is going to be heard at all in this process ... the next few weeks are very important.

This timetable is important because Sturgeon has made it clear that, if she does not think London is taking account of Scotland’s wishes, she will push for a second independence referendum. The SNP is holding its spring conference towards the end of March. That could be when she makes her next big announcement on this issue.

When Sturgeon was asked directly if her timetable could lead to her announcing another independence vote by March, she replied:

I’ll do what needs to be done to protect Scotland’s position. We are running out of time for this process. It can’t go on indefinitely and it won’t go on indefinitely.

This is one of the last key opportunities for me to make clear to the prime minister that I have to see some movement on her part, and over the next few weeks she has got the opportunity to demonstrate whether that movement is going to be forthcoming.

Nicola Sturgeon.
Nicola Sturgeon. Photograph: POOL/Reuters

Carwyn Jones, the Labour Welsh first minister, also told Theresa May that he had concerns about President Trump coming to the UK on a state visit. This is the read-out the Welsh government sent out after Jones’s meeting with May in Cardiff.

The first minister had a bilateral meeting with the prime minister today where a number of important pressing issues were raised.

The first minister raised serious concerns about how the recent US immigration order was handled by the UK government, and his belief that a state visit would be difficult in the current circumstances.

The first minister and prime minister also discussed the issue of Brexit, and Wales’ white paper. The first minister welcomed a firm commitment from the PM that Brexit would not be used as cover for a ‘land grab’ on devolved powers. There was further discussion about full single market access, and its vital importance to the Welsh economy. The positions are not identical, but not irreconcilable at this stage.

The Press Association has been looking into the state visits committee mentioned by the prime minister’s spokesman at the Number 10 lobby briefing. (See 12.56pm.) It says the body, officially known as the royal visits committee, is chaired by the Foreign Office’s permanent secretary, and comprises the private secretaries to the the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, and the prime minister, as well as the keeper of the privy purse and treasurer to the Queen, the national security adviser, a representative from the department for international trade, and the Foreign Office’s director of protocol.

The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said that Donald Trump’s state visit ought to be cancelled while travel bans are in place and has called on the prime minister to speak up more strongly against the values that the president’s policies have exposed.

Speaking after a one-to-one meeting with Theresa May that took place before the meeting of the joint ministerial committee in Cardiff May said she told the prime minister she should voice concerns about Trump more forcefully. Sturgeon told the Guardian:

I said [to her] that while everybody understands that she wants to build a constructive relationship that relationship has to be based on values.

I think many people would like to hear a stronger view from the UK government about the immigrant and refugee ban that was announced.

I also said that I don’t think it would be appropriate in these circumstances for the state visit to go ahead while these bans are in place given the understandable concern that people have about them and the messages they send and the impact they have.

Asked if May had gone to meet Trump too quickly, Sturgeon replied:

She’s the prime minister of the UK. Everybody would understand she wants to build a positive relationship with the president of the United States. As first minister of Scotland I want to build a constructive relationship with the new administration. I’m not criticising her for that. But relationships have to be based on values.

We’ve all got a duty to speak up for fundamental values. There’s a real concern on the part of many that introducing what is seen by many as a ban on Muslims, banning people because of their origin or faith, is deeply wrong and likely to be counterproductive in terms of the fight we all have an interest in against extremism and terrorism.

In terms of the refugee ban, that in my view would go against the international obligations in terms of the Geneva Convention and the moral obligation we all have to deal with the refugee crisis.

Asked if she would meet Trump in Scotland, Sturgeon said:

The relationship between Scotland and America is important. I’m not going to start getting into refuse meeting people but nor am I going to maintain diplomatic silences over things that are really important in a values and principles sense.

European politicians are considering how to allow British citizens to maintain their links to the continent after Brexit, the EU Parliament’s chief negotiator has said.

As the Press Association reports, following suggestions that Britons may be able to pay to maintain some form of EU citizenship, Guy Verhofstadt said he was preparing a resolution to put to MEPs once negotiations start to be “open and generous” to individual UK citizens.

After repeating his warning that the UK will not be able to “cherry-pick” parts of EU membership in the negotiations, he told an audience at Chatham House:

We need also to be open and generous to the individual UK citizens.

I can tell you I receive every day tens of letters ... [about] millions of citizens who are saying ‘don’t leave us alone. We feel still European citizens, and we want to continue our link to Europe because we are part of the same civilisation’.

That is what we don’t understand in Europe, we have a common heritage - a common civilisation, history, architectural, cultural, literature, you name it.

We are scrutinising, thinking, debating how we could achieve that. That individual UK citizens would think their links with Europe are not broken.

Verhofstadt also appeared to back Theresa May’s insistence that she can negotiate Britain’s exit from the EU while simultaneously working out new trading terms under the two-year withdrawal process under article 50 of the EU treaties. He said:

In the treaty, article 50, we are saying a withdrawal can be agreed taking into consideration the future relationship.

So you see it is a fantastic political text and it says it all - a withdrawal agreement in the light of the future relationship.

That is literally in the treaty and that is what we need to apply.

Guy Verhofstadt speaking at Chatham House in London today.
Guy Verhofstadt speaking at Chatham House in London today. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

As Theresa May prepares to meet Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny, a poll shows 56% of Irish voters are in favour of a referendum on the Brexit deal.

This could potentially be a roadblock as all countries would have to ratify a Brexit trade deal and Irish voters have in the past voted against new EU treaties.

Referenda in the Republic of Ireland are frequently held on constitutional issues which vary from the rights of the unborn child to European treaties including Maastricht and the Nice treaties.

In 2008 the Irish through the EU into disarray when they voted against the Lisbon Treaty forcing changes before it was supported in a second referendum.
However in a sign of the growing realisation of the potential damage Brexit could do to Ireland’s economy, 56% of those polled by Red C for the Sunday Business Post agree that Ireland’s relationship with the UK is more important than the country’s relationship with the EU.
Britain is Ireland’s single biggest market with Irish beef and dairy among the top exports.

ITV’s Adrian Masters has posted a picture of the communique issued after the JMC meeting in Cardiff. It is not very revealing, although it does say that the work being carried out to investigate the practicality of the SNP’s plan for a Brexit deal that would keep Scotland in the single market is being “intensified”.

(But UK ministers have already signalled that that they are not going to end up saying no.)

Lunchtime summary

Before the meeting Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, said that time was “running out” for the UK government to produce a Brexit plan acceptable to Scotland. (See 9.20am.)

  • Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has said that Trump’s invitation to a state visit should be withdrawn. Speaking on BBC Radio 2 Corybn said:

We should never have made the invitation in the first place. He’s been in office for eight days, he ran an election campaign that was based on misogyny, anti-Muslim and anti-Mexican rhetoric. I would have thought it would be gentle to say ‘please, move on to being the president and speak for the entire United States’ rather than carrying on with that awful rhetoric ... I would indeed [rescind the offer], because I think [the Queen has] been put in a very embarrassing position.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, has also used an article in the Evening Standard to say the offer of a state visit should be withdrawn until Trump rescinds the travel ban imposed at the end of last week.

  • Number 10 has insisted that the state visit will go ahead. (See 12.56pm.)
  • Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, has expressed some reservations about Trump’s travel ban. Asked about it on a visit to Stoke-on-Trent Central, where he is standing for Ukip in the byelection, he said:

It does look slightly arbitrary to me, but we cannot forget he is a democratically elected president.

By contrast Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, has strongly defended Trump’s decision.

There is more on the Trump travel ban story on our separate live blog.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood met with David Davis and Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones this morning ahead of the JMC meeting. Wood said there was a “healthy exchange of views.” She explained:

The secretary of state for exiting the EU [Davis] was left in no doubt over the importance of single market participation. I also raised agricultural exports and subsidies, and the need for freedom of movement to avoid skills shortages.

The prime minister would do wise to grasp the potential impact of these negotiations on the future constitutional landscape of the United Kingdom.

Different views were expressed in different parts of these islands during the referendum on June 23. If the UK is truly a partnership of equal nations then Theresa May will take heed of these differences and shape her negotiating strategy accordingly.

While Wales may have voted to leave, no one voted to give the Tories a blank cheque to wreck the Welsh economy by dragging us out of the single market and jeopardising 200,000 jobs.

At the same time, the wishes of the majority who voted in favour of remain in Scotland and Northern Ireland must also be respected.

Last week, Plaid Cymru and the Welsh government united for the sake of the national interest to publish a set of comprehensive proposals designed to protect Wales as we prepare to leave the EU. Wood said:

I hope the prime minister gives careful consideration to those proposals or risk confirming Wales’s status as a second-class nation within the UK.

Leanne Wood.
Leanne Wood. Photograph: Tracey Paddison/REX/Shutterstock

Chris Bryant, the Labour former Foreign Office minister, says Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK will be a “diplomatic nightmare”. And inviting him to address parliament would be particularly difficult because of the protests, Bryant says. He told me:

We want to enhance our relationship with America - but if [Donald Trump] comes it will be a diplomatic nightmare. There will be a lock-down in parliament. Everybody will be shouting all the way through - you won’t be able to hear him speak.

I would have said to the prime minister: “Of course we want to get on well with the US for all sorts of reasons, not least the fact that we are leaving the European Union - but we don’t know how he is going to turn out as president. We don’t know if we would be tying ourselves to a dubious administration. And if it works out in a year’s time, then you can invite him - why the rush?”

If he turns out to be a brilliant president who welcomes British values, I’d welcome him.

Number 10 lobby briefing - Summary

Here is a full summary of the Number 10 lobby briefing.

  • Downing Street said Britons were not getting special treatment in relation to the US travel ban. He said the Foreign Office statement last night about how the new US rules affected dual nationals was not intended to mean that British dual nationals were getting preferential treatment. It was meant to be a clarification of how the rules affected dual nationals generally. He said he could not comment on the new statement issued by the American embassy this morning because he had not seen it. (See 12.01pm.)
  • The spokesman confirmed that Britain did not agree with President Trump’s move. “We disagree with these restrictions,” the spokesman said. He said that statement covered all aspects of the Trump travel ban.

We don’t agree with these restrictions, it is not the way we would do it. Where people’s rights, UK citizens’ rights, have been affected, we have set about getting a clarification to allow them to travel. As we pointed out last week, where we disagree with something we are happy to say we disagree with it.

  • The spokesman said that the decision to invite Trump to the UK for a state visit was first taken by the state visit committee that operates in the Foreign Office. Asked why Trump was being offered a state visit so soon, when previous presidents have had to wait months or years for an equivalent invitation, the spokesman said said:

There is no set timing that a president needs to be in office before they receive, or don’t receive, an invitation for a state visit. There is a process for state visits. Each year the government looks at the recommendations that are made by the committee for state visits, those recommendations are then put to Buckingham Palace, the palace then needs to agree to the visit, then, historically the invitation is extended on behalf of Her Majesty by the government, and that is the process that took place this time.

But the spokesman was unable to say who sits on the committee, or to explain why Trump received his invitation within a week of taking office.

(Very few observers will believe that Trump got the invitation just because an obscure committee came up with the idea. Ultimately these decisions are taken by Number 10, and May clearly offered Trump a visit quickly because he appears to want one desperately and she thought this would help to improve a relationship that has become particularly important in the light of Brexit.)

The spokesman also dismissed the prospect of the invitation being withdrawn.

The invitation has been extended and it has been accepted. The UK and the US have a very strong, close relationship and it is right that we continue to work together.

  • The spokesman said it was up to parliament to decide whether the petition saying Donald Trump should not be invited to the UK for a state visit should be debated. The petition has received more than 1m signatures, and petitions getting more than 100,000 signatures are normally considered for debate. But by convention the Commons does not normally debate matters relating to the Queen, and so it is likely that this may never get debated. Asked if the prime minister would like to see this debated in parliament, the spokesman said this was a matter for parliament.
  • The spokesman said the planned white paper on Brexit would be published as soon as possible, but he refused to say when.
  • May is travelling to Dublin after the joint ministerial committee meeting in Cardiff for talks with the Irish prime minister, Enda Kenny. May will hold a press conference in Dublin in the early evening.
10 Downing Street.
10 Downing Street. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

Q: But Trump was elected. You support democracy. Trump is president because a majority of American states wanted him.

Corbyn says a majority of states wanted Trump, but not a majority of American voters.

And Trump has to operate in a parliamentary system, he says.

He says that Trump’s reliance on executive powers worries him.

Jeremy Corbyn's interview on BBC Radio 2

Jeremy Corbyn is being interviewed now on Jeremy Vine’s show on BBC Radio 2.

Corbyn says Donald Trump should never have been invited to the UK for a state visit in the first place.

My colleague Anushka Asthana says the Foreign Office are very confident that Boris Johnson’s statement from last night set out the real rules that apply to dual nationals as understood by the White House.

I’m just back from the Number 10 lobby briefing.

This morning the American embassy in London has put out a statement suggesting that Britons with dual nationality from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen will be affected by the US travel ban.

This appears to contradict the statement issued by the Foreign Office last night.

Asked about the statement from the American embassy, the prime minister’s spokesman said he could not comment because he had not seen it.

But this is what he did say about the issue.

  • Britons are not getting special treatment in relation to the travel ban, the spokesman said. He said the Foreign Office statement last night about how the new US rules affected dual nationals was not intended to mean that British dual nationals were getting preferential treatment. It was meant to be a clarification of how the rules affected dual nationals generally.
  • The spokesman confirmed that Britain did not agree with President Trump’s move. “We disagree with these restrictions,” the spokesman said. He said that statement covered all aspects of the Trump travel ban.

I will post a full summary from the briefing shortly.

Here is Theresa May arriving at the JMC meeting in Cardiff earlier.

Theresa May arrives for a meeting with the JMC at City Hall in Cardiff.
Theresa May arrives for a meeting with the JMC at City Hall in Cardiff. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

I’m just off to the Number 10 lobby briefing. I will post again after 11.30am.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, has arrived at Cardiff City Hall for the JMC meeting. This is from ITV’s Adrian Masters.

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, will be making a statement in the Commons later about the US travel ban, he has told Sky News.

Unfortunately, when the SNP’s Michael Russell was on the Today programme, he was not asked about an interesting story in the Times saying the SNP is thinking about abandoning full EU membership as its preferred option for an independent Scotland. Instead senior party figures are considering whether the party’s policy should be for Scotland to have a Norway-style relationship with the EU, according to the Times’ Hamish Macdonell. Here’s an extract from his story (paywall).

The SNP is close to ditching one of its longest-held principles for Scottish independence — full membership of the European Union.

The Times has learnt that senior party figures want to adopt a Norway-style model in which an independent Scotland would stay inside the single market, but outside the EU, after Brexit.

This, they believe, would allow Scotland to retain all the benefits of the European single market while continuing to trade within the UK as it does now.

A poll published yesterday found that more than a third of Yes voters from 2014 want to stay outside the EU and SNP strategists believe this new approach would keep these voters behind their independence cause.

Here is Theresa May arriving for the JMC meeting being held in Cardiff’s City Hall.

Theresa May arriving in Cardiff
Theresa May arriving in Cardiff. Photograph: Sky News

Michael Russell, the Scottish government’s Brexit minister, was on the Today programme this morning talking about the JMC meeting. He said the UK government and the devolved administrations “haven’t got anywhere close to” a joint position on Brexit.

He also said the “obsession” with immigration was “driving the UK government into a very dangerous place”.

Theresa May also put out a statement ahead of today’s JMC meeting. She said that she hoped that she and the ministers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would have “constructive discussions” but that they would not stop Brexit.

I know ministers and officials from all sides are also in regular contact bilaterally. We have received papers from both the Scottish and Welsh governments and I am grateful to the devolved administrations for their contributions to this important process.

We will not agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean we will shy away from the necessary conversations and I hope we will have further constructive discussions today.

We have also had the supreme court judgement which made clear beyond doubt that relations with the EU are a matter for the UK government and UK parliament. We should not forget that that means MPs representing every community in the UK will be fully involved in the passage of article 50 through parliament.

The United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, and the UK government has a responsibility to deliver on that mandate and secure the right deal for the whole of the UK. We all have a part to play in providing certainty and leadership so that together we can make a success of the opportunities ahead.

Sturgeon tells May time is 'running out' to get Brexit plan acceptable to Scotland

Harold Wilson was wrong. As Theresa May is learning, it’s not a week that’s a long time in politics, but 48 hours. When I left the office on Friday night the general consensus was that her meeting with Donald Trump had gone quite well for her. Then came his draconian, allegedly racist travel ban, May’s indecisive response to it and the worldwide backlash, and by last night her embrace of Trump was looking far more questionable.

Mostly we are covering this story on a separate live blog. You can read it here.

But I will be paying it some attention, not least because it is bound to come up at the Number 10 lobby briefing and there may be a statement in the Commons later about the travel ban from Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary.

Today May is in Cardiff for a meeting of the joint ministerial committee, the body that allows UK government ministers and ministers from the devolved assemblies to meet to discuss Brexit. In public at least, May’s relations with the Trump administration seem a lot warmer than her relationship with the Scottish government. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, wants a Brexit solution that will keep Scotland in the single market and, in a statement issued ahead of the JMC, she said time was “running out” for a compromise.

It is becoming clearer with every day that passes that the UK government is determined to pursue a hard Brexit and I am determined to do all I can to protect Scotland’s from the devastating impact that would have.

In Scotland’s Place in Europe we have set out a range of propositions to keep Scotland in the single market and these will be discussed at tomorrow’s meetings. I hope the discussion on this tomorrow will be meaningful, but the process has been deeply disappointing so far ...

Time is running out for the prime minister to demonstrate that she is going to uphold the commitment she made to me shortly after taking office that Scotland will be fully involved in discussions to develop an agreed UK approach and listen to alternative proposals for Scotland.

In her statement Sturgeon did not say what she would do if time does eventually run out before a compromise is reached but implicitly she is restating her threat to hold a second independence referendum if the UK government does not produce a Brexit plan acceptable to Scotland.

Here is the agenda for the day.

11am: Number 10 lobby briefing.

11am: Suzanne Evans, Ukip’s deputy chairwoman and health spokeswoman, gives a speech on health in Stoke-on-Trent Central alongside Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader and Ukip’s candidate in the Stoke byelection.

11.30am: The joint ministerial committee meets in Cardiff.

11.45am: Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative chair of the Commons Treasury committee, speaks at the launch of a UK In a Changing Europe report on Brexit.

1pm: Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, gives a speech at Chatham House.

3.30pm: A Foreign Office minister may give a Commons statement on Donald Trump’s travel ban. This is not been confirmed yet, but it is likely that ministers will either offer a statement or be required to answer an urgent question.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another in the afternoon.

You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.

Updated

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