Sadiq Khan: Londoners will not 'roll out red carpet' for Donald Trump

Around 250,000 Londoners signed the petition to have Donald Trump's state visit axed

Mayor Sadiq Khan today warned that Londoners will not support “rolling out the red carpet” for Donald Trump until the muslim ban is lifted, as one million people called for his state visit to be called off.

Amid worldwide protests at his banning of refugees and people from seven mainly Muslim countries from the US, the Mayor of London said Britain must show that it did not endorse the US President’s actions.

“That is why we must now rescind the offer of a full state visit for President Trump - until this ban is lifted,” said Mr Khan, writing in the Evening Standard.

“I don’t believe the people of London will support rolling out the red carpet until this happens. Great friends must warn each other when they are making a mistake.”

New leader: US President Donald Trump signs an executive order for the "extreme vetting" of visa seekers from terror-plagued countries
Getty Images

An analysis of the parliamentary petition showed around a quarter of the names were from London. Over 6,000 people - one in 20 residents - backed it in Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington North constituency, according to the parliamentary website. Almost 7,000 in Diane Abbott’s consituency backed it.

Theresa May was "very happy" to extend the invitation to Donald Trump for the state visit on behalf of the Queen "and we look forward to hosting the President later this year", Downing Street said.

One of the few MPs to defend the state visit, South Suffolk Tory James Cartlidge said a bandwagon to stop it “just ensures a warmer bear hug for him in Moscow”.

Most London MPs were condemnatory. Diane Abbott called the executive orders “racist” while Tulip Siddiq said they were “appalling”.

A formal invitation from the Queen to President Trump was handed over by Theresa May on Friday, a day before he signed an executive order closing America’s doors to millions of people.

He is currently due to arrive in July with wife Melania for a full VIP tour with banquets and a speech to Parliament.

In a swirl of confusion and protest against the unprecedented presidential action:

  • * A parliamentary petition calling for the invitation to be torn up passed the one million names milestone shortly before 10am, just a day after it was launched. 

  • * Tens of thousands of people were expected to join protests tonight being held in London outside Downing Street and in other cities.

  • * London emerged as the greatest centre of anti-Trump feeling, with around 250,000 Londoners joining the call for his visit to be stopped.

  • * Business leaders and MPs joined the protests - but Downing Street insisted the State visit will go ahead as planned.  

Heartbreaking stories of refugees being turned away in tears were emerging today, including claims that a US serviceman’s own mother was held in handcuffs when she tried to enter the country. An Iraqi translator who had helped the US military was also sent away.

Airlines were forced to change pilots on some US bound planes, while businesses reported that key staff were unable to attend meetings.

Mr Khan said the ban was “shameful and cruel” would be ultimately “self-defeating” because it would play into the hands of extremists. He writes: “I fear it will be used to act as a recruiting sergeant for so called Isis and other like minded groups.”

He pointed out that Apple founder Steve Jobs, the son of a Syrian migrant, and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, whose parents were Iranian, would both have been blocked.

And Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said: “I am heartbroken that today President Trump is closing the door on children, mothers and fathers fleeing violence and war.”

Bosses at AirBnb, Twitter, Uber and Tesla all hit out at Mr Trump. Sir Martin Sorrell, head of WPP, said: “As the grandson of Eastern European grandparents, who were admitted to the UK in the very late 19th and early 20th centuries, I have an instinctive dislike of such measures.”

Starbucks declared it will hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years in response, particularly immigrants “who have served with US troops as interpreters and support personnel”.

Tory peer Baroness Warsi, who was the first female Muslim cabinet minister, said Mr Trump should not be given the honour of a state visit.

“We have to question whether, in Britain, this is something that Britain should be doing for a man who has no respect for women, disdain for minorities, little value for LGBT communities, no compassion for the vulnerable and whose policies are rooted in divisive rhetoric,” she said.

Former Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said the “optics” for the visit to London were “very bad” and called for it to be postponed.

“There would undoubtedly be serious demonstrations against President Trump,” said the senior Tory MP.

He urged Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, to “find a reason” to postpone it and negotiate a joint statement by both countries. He added: “At the moment, the idea of having a visit would seem very uncomfortable to both sides.”

MPs on both sides savaged President Trump, while Labour accused Mrs May of failing to stand up to him. Green MP Caroline Lucas tweeted it was “an attack on Muslims everywhere & May’s weak response shames us all”.

Downing Street upped the stakes by flatly refusing to reconsider the invitation.

A No 10 source said: ”An invitation has been extended and accepted.”

It will take place “this year”, said the source.

Boris Johnson said he would be making a Commons statement this afternoon.

Whitehall sources made clear that the former Mayor was crucial in ensuring Britons would not be caught by the bans.

The former mayor started phoning Trump administration contacts early yesterday and sealed the “clarification” in a call to Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser.

Jeremy Corbyn’s aides claimed credit for the success of the petition to parliament calling for the visit to be cancelled.

It stated: “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.”

Just before 10am, it passed a million names and was rising at a rate of two thousand names each minute.

It is already the fastest rising petition since online petitions were launched. The biggest was one calling for a second EU referendum which accrued four million names over six months.

Mr Khan’s article makes clear that the visit would only be called off as a gesture since the executive orders are due to expire anyway before the visit.

A ban on seven mainly-muslim countries is due to last 90 days, while a bar on refugees is for 120 days.

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