Saturday, 23rd November 2024

London Mayor: Cancel Trump state visit

Call came after Trump shared far-right videos

Thursday, 30th November 2017

The mayor of London has added his voice to calls for President Donald Trump's state visit to Britain to be cancelled over his retweets of a British far-right group.

Sadiq Khan says Trump has promoted "a vile, extremist group" and an official visit by him to Britain "would not be welcomed."

Trump's retweeting of anti-Muslim videos from far-right group Britain First has been widely condemned in Britain.

Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesman said it was "wrong for the president to have done this".

The speaker of the House of Commons has granted a request for an urgent question on the matter from MP Stephen Doughty.

In response, Trump urged May to focus on "the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom," rather than on him.

Downing Street and the White House both say a state visit by Trump is planned, but no date has been set.

After already condemning Mr Trump's actions on Wednesday, Brendan Cox - whose wife, MP Jo Cox, was murdered by a right-wing extremist who shouted "Britain first" before committing the act - told the US president to focus on problems in his own country.

You have a mass shooting every single day in your country, your murder rate is many times that of the UK, your healthcare system is a disgrace, you can’t pass anything through a congress that you control. I would focus on that. https://t.co/SNcqOZGvLQ

— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) November 30, 2017