There was a three-hour debate in parliament on Monday as to whether U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump should be banned from entering the UK. The debate was called after over half a million Britons called for him to banned following his comments on Muslims, expressing that they should be banned from entering America.
The debate demonstrated that most members of parliament were completely against Trump’s divisive, unhelpful and wrong comments. However, the government has expressed that exclusion powers are very serious and are not to be used lightly. It is very unlikely that Trump will be banned from the UK, but the petition and debate has highlighted that Donald Trump coming into power into the US could cause huge problems for the countries relationship in the future.
The Argument For:
The argument in support of the ban to let Trump enter the country would be to welcome into the UK a man who has effectively called for a race war. The petition states that the UK “has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech” and that these rules must be “fairly applied to the rich as well as the poor”. Labour MP Jack Dromey held the opinion of many others in the UK in that “I don’t think Donald Trump should be allowed within 1,000 miles of our shores… Donald Trump is free to be a fool but he is not free to be a dangerous fool in Britain.” It is argued that Trump’s words could inflame tensions between vulnerable communities in Britain.
The Argument Against:
The counter-argument debated that foreign nationals should not be banned for opinions on domestic actions and a ban could risk damaging US-UK relations. Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh expressed “Like it or not, he is quite a contender to be the head of state of the most powerful country on the planet, a country which is a vital ally of ours. We have welcome to the country Saudi and Chinese leaders… whose crimes are far worse than anything Mr Trump can dream up.”
Either way, the issue of Donald Trump coming into the UK is a contentious one.
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