CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed reports that US President Donald Trump’s controversial state visit to the UK has been put on hold.
The Guardian newspaper claimed Mr Trump has told Theresa May he does not want to go ahead with his visit if it is going to lead to large-scale demon- strations.
His comments – effectively putting the visit on hold – were said to have been made in a telephone call to the Prime Minister in “recent weeks”.
The Stop Trump Coalition – a protest group that includes Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP Mhairi Black and Scots comedian Frankie Boyle – described the development as “a stunning example of people power”.
A Coalition spokesman added: “We marched in our hundreds of thousands against Trump’s hateful regime, and our own government’s complicity in it. For now, we have beaten back the most powerful man on the planet. But Trump’s sexist, racist, climate-denying agenda continues, and so must our campaigning.
“And with the Tories in bed with the DUP, we have our own version of homegrown Trumpism to oppose.”
The Guardian quoted a No 10 adviser “who was in the room” at the time as saying Mrs May had been “surprised” by Mr Trump’s remarks about his state visit.
Downing Street has insisted the invitation, which was given by Mrs May on behalf of the Queen when she met Mr Trump in Washington just seven days after his inauguration, remains unchanged.
A spokesman said: “We aren’t going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations.
“The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans.”
The decision to accord such a controversial President the honour of a state visit so soon after taking office was widely criticised at the time. Given the scale of the likely protests against Mr Trump expected for London, it was suggested officials would want the US President to spend as little time in the UK capital as possible.
The prospect of Mr Trump visiting the Queen at Balmoral was also raised.
Apart from owning golf courses at Turnberry, on the Ayrshire coast, and at Balmedie, north of Aberdeen, Mr Trump’s links to Scotland also include his late mother, Mary MacLeod, hailing from the Isle of Lewis.
Further concerns about the state visit were raised after Mr Trump criticised London Mayor Sadiq Khan over his response to the latest terror attacks on the capital.
Mr Khan had told the public they should not be alarmed at the increased police presence on the streets after the attacks on London Bridge and at Borough Market.
But Mr Trump then accused him via Twitter of making “pathetic excuses”.
This prompted Mr Khan to call for the state visit to be dropped.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn posted a message on Twitter, welcoming the “cancellation” of the visit.
Liberal Democrats’ leader Tim Farron said Mr Trump was “clearly terrified of the British public”.
Mr Farron, who is also a member of the Stop Trump Coalition, added: “He knows the British people find his politics appalling.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel