'The invitation stands': Theresa May is NOT for turning as she insists Trump's state visit will go ahead despite travel ban row even though 'we have a different approach in the UK'
- Theresa May said US remains 'close ally' of UK and state visit invite 'stands'
- Petition says Trump should not be invited to avoid embarrassing the Queen
- MPs to debate motion after it attracts more than 1m names within 36 hours
- But Downing Street source dismisses petition as 'a populist gesture'
- Says cancelling state visit would 'undo everything' May achieved in Washington
A defiant Theresa May has stood by the decision to issue an invitation to Donald Trump to make a state visit to Britain in the face of the outcry over his controversial travel ban.
The Prime Minister, who became the first world leader to meet the new US president in the White House, faces demands from a petition signed by more than 1.4 million people to call off the visit.
But appearing at a joint press conference in Dublin with Irish prime minister Enda Kenny, Mrs May was adamant it would go ahead.
Prime Minister Theresa May, pictured at a press conference in Ireland, said the US and UK remain close allies and that President Trump's state visit invitation 'stands'
'The United States is a close ally of the United Kingdom. We work together across many areas of mutual interest and we have that special relationship between us,' she said.
'I have issued that invitation for a state visit for President Trump to the United Kingdom and that invitation stands.'
It came after Boris Johnson tonight assured Donald Trump there is no chance of his state visit to the UK later this year being cancelled.
He rejected calls by senior Tory politicians and a petition signed by more than 1.4million people demanding the President be uninvited in the wake of his travel ban on citizens from seven majority Muslim countries.
The Foreign Secretary said President Trump was an 'elected head of state of our closest allies and said there was 'absolutely no reason why he should not be accorded a state visit and every reason why he should'.
No10 said Theresa May is 'very happy' President Trump has accepted the Queen's invitation to visit, adding: 'We look forward to hosting the President later this year.'
Boris Johnson, pictured in the Commons today, tonight assured Donald Trump there is no chance of his state visit to the UK later this year being cancelled
But Mr Johnson did repeat his criticism of President Trump's 'highly controversial' travel ban and accepted it had caused 'unease' across the world.
He also issued fresh travel guidance, insisting no British citizens will be affected by President Trump's immigration crackdown.
But there was growing pressure on the Government over its relationship with President Trump.
Protests against his ban are planned to take place in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Cambridge and Birmingham and in London demonstrators will protest outside Downing Street.
Tory peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the first female to attend Cabinet, became the latest high profile politicians to call for the state visit to be postponed until President Trump has lifted his controversial travel ban.
And MPs must now debate calls for President Trump's state visit to be cancelled after the online petition easily passed the 100,000 target within hours of being set up.
More than 1million people have signed a petition demanding President Trump's state visit to the UK is cancelled. Pictured, President Trump with an executive order in the Oval Office
Theresa May, pictured left arriving for Brexit talks in Cardiff today, is under growing pressure to postpone Donald Trump's state visit to the UK. Baroness Warsi, right, the ex-Tory Cabinet minister, said Britain must not honour the US President by rolling out the red carpet for him
The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, pictured at the Despatch Box today, said President Trump was an 'elected head of state of our closest allies and said there was 'absolutely no reason why he should not be accorded a state visit and every reason why he should'
It exceeded 1million names by 10am this morning - less than 36 hours after it was set up - and is the second most popular motion on the Government's online petition website.
But a Downing Street source dismissed the petition, which claims his visit would embarrass the Queen, as 'a populist gesture'.
And they blasted the suggestion that the President's state visit could be scrapped, saying it would 'undo everything' that Mrs May achieved during her visit to the White House on Friday.
In angry exchanges in the Commons today MPs urged ministers to cancel President Trump's state visit.
Veteran socialist Dennis Skinner said Britain must not walk 'hand-in-hand with another fascist – Trump,' while his Labour colleague David Winnick branded President Trump a 'bigoted man' who 'under no circumstances should address Parliament' during his state visit.
But Mr Johnson rejected calls to cancel the visit, telling MPs: 'We should bear in mind that he is the elected head of state of our closest and most important ally and there is absolutely no reason why he should not be accorded a state visit and every reason why he should.'
The petition reached 1million signatures mark by 10am this morning - less than 36 hours after it was set up
Veteran socialist Dennis Skinner, pictured in the Commons today, said Britain must not walk 'hand-in-hand with another fascist – Trump'
Labour colleague David Winnick, pictured standing up in the Commons today, branded President Trump a 'bigoted man' who 'under no circumstances should address Parliament' during his state visit
There were warnings from London's Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan that going ahead with President Trump's visit could increase the threat of terrorism in London. 'I fear it will be used to act as a recruiting sergeant for so called Isis and other like minded groups,' he wrote in the Evening Standard.
Mr Khan said Londoners will not support 'rolling out the red carpet' for President Trump.
Last night it was announced that the executive order, which prevents anyone entering the US from seven Muslim majority countries for 90 days, will not apply to British nationals holding dual nationality with one of the banned nations.
Today Downing Street insisted it was not a special deal for Britons but instead officials had sought clarification. A spokesman for the PM added that she 'disagrees with the restrictions'.
President Trump's hardline immigration crackdown triggered protests across the US and today thousands of demonstrators will take to the streets in cities across Britain.
Tory peer Baroness Warsi said President Trump must 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 told the Today programme.
'Those who run and govern this country bowing down to a man who holds the views that he holds, values which are not the same as British values, I think is sending out a very wrong signal.'
The peer said the Government must ensure that 'people in this country know that whatever crazy things the President of the United States may be doing, it is not what we believe and not what we support.'
Baroness Warsi echoed Ms Davidson, who said a state visit 'could not possibly occur' while 'a cruel and divisive policy which discriminates against citizens of the host nation is in place'.
Mr Khan, who became the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital city last year, wrote in the Evening Standard today: 'We must now rescind the offer of a full state visit for President Trump - until this ban is lifted.
'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.'
And former Labour leader Ed Miliband told the BBC: 'If ever Isis wanted a tool to radicalise people against the United States, I'm afraid that President Trump has sadly provided it.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, pictured, said a state visit 'could not possibly occur' while 'a cruel and divisive policy which discriminates against citizens of the host nation is in place'
London's Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan, pictured, also said President Trump should only be invited for a state visit once he lifts his 'shameful' travel ban
The US President's shock executive order prevents anyone entering the US from seven Muslim majority countries for 90 days
Speaking alongside President Trump at the White House on Friday, Prime Minister Theresa May revealed that he and the First Lady had accepted an invitation from the Queen to make a state visit to the UK later this year with full pomp and ceremony
'I don't believe the state visit can go ahead in these circumstances.'
The petition calling for President Trump to be barred from given a state visit is now the second most popular since the government's online petition website was set up in 2010.
But the call for action is still a long way off the largest Parliamentary petition in history when more than 4million people demanded a second referendum over EU membership last summer.
Confirming that President Trump's state visit will go ahead later this year as planned, a Downing Street source told the BBC: 'The invitation has been issued and accepted.
'To scrap the visit would undo everything following Mrs May's visit. America is a huge and important ally we have to think long term.'
Despite this, MPs will have to debate cancelling President Trump's trip because the enormous response to the petition meant it easily passed the 100,000 target needed to trigger a Commons debate.
The enormous response easily passed the 100,000 target needed for MPs to consider holding a debate on the motion in the House of Commons, with more and more people flocking to sign it.
As more and more people flocked to sign it, the petition rose at an average of more than 1,000 signatures per minute.
Plans for a state visit for President Trump were only announced on Friday when Mrs May revealed he had accepted an invitation from the Queen.
The high-profile visit was scheduled for later this year and was set to feature the usual full pomp and ceremony.
But it had already hit a snag after it emerged the US President wants to avoid Prince Charles because of their dispute over global warming.
The petition, backed by Mr Corbyn and Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, says the US President should no longer be invited to avoid embarrassing the Queen.
The motion states: '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.
'Donald Trump's well documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales.
'Therefore during the term of his presidency Donald Trump should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official State Visit.'
Mr Corbyn said he is 'not happy with him coming here until that ban is lifted,' while Mr Farron said his visit would be 'placing the Queen in an impossible position of welcoming a man who is banning British citizens purely on grounds of their faith'.
Within hours of being set up it attracted the necessary 100,000 for the motion to be considered for debate in the Commons.
A heat map shows that most people who are signing the petition to cancel Mr Trump's state visit are in London or student towns. The darker the colour, the more people have signed it
Most people signing the petition are in London or student towns, according to a heat map.
Any petition that receives more than 100,000 signatures within six months must be considered for debate by MPs in Parliament.
Petitions that attract more than 10,000 in the time period requires a response from the Government.
The petition eclipsed the target within a few hours and by 10am it had surpassed 1m signatures.
It will now be up to the Commons Petition's Committee to decide whether a parliamentary debate on the matter would be appropriate, but its popularity is likely to lead to a debate in the Commons, which could be highly embarrassing for the US President.
David Cameron introduced the e-petition initiative when he entered Downing Street in 2010 in a bid to boost democracy and transparency.
London's Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan also said President Trump should only be invited for a state visit once he lifts his 'shameful' travel ban.
Tory MP James Cartlidge was one of few politicians to defend President Trump's travel ban, saying the bandwagon to stop his state visit 'just ensures a warmer bear hug for him in Moscow'.
He was backed up by former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who defended the immigration crackdown and even suggested Britain should follow the President's lead and introduce 'extreme vetting' of incomers.
Mr Javid, the Business Secretary, responded directly at Mr Farage, tweeting: 'Farage is wrong to try and defend US immigration ban. These are not British values.'
Announcing on Friday that the Queen had invited President Trump to make an official state visit to the UK, Mrs May said: 'In a further sign of the importance of that [special] relationship I have today been able to convey Her Majesty the Queen's hope that President Trump and the First Lady would pay a state visit to the United Kingdom later this year and I'm delighted that the President has accepted that invitation.'
Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators are planning to protest against the ban outside Downing Street and across the country today from 6pm.
Protests are listed to take place in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Cambridge and Birmingham.
A march organised by a coalition of groups, including Stand Up to Racism and the Muslim Council of Britain, is due to begin at the US embassy next Saturday, ending at Downing Street.
Graham Guest, who started the petition in November, told the Press Association he feared Mr Trump would use the state visit and the accompanying photo opportunities with the Queen to bolster his image.
The storm over Donald Trump's Muslim travel ban comes just two days after he and Theresa May were spotted holding hands at one point as they walked around the White House grounds
It would be highly embarrassing for the US President, pictured with Mrs May on Friday, if MPs were given a debate on whether to cancel his state visit to the UK
He said: 'A state visit legitimises his presidency and he will use the photo opportunities and being seen with the Queen to get re-elected.
'The wording in the petition is quite precise as I actually say that he should come here as the head of government to do government to government business.
'At the end of the day he is still the President and we've just got to live with that. But there's no reason why he should get all the pomp and publicity of a state visit.'
Asked why he had launched the petition, Mr Guest, from Leeds, said: 'Anything to make his life more uncomfortable.
'I think a debate in Parliament to ban a state visit would be great as people will have had the chance to air their views on him.
'The petition is really just to make as much noise as possible and put the spotlight on him and what an awful person he is.'
A No 10 spokesman said: 'An invitation was extended and has been accepted.'
Most watched News videos
- Terrifying moment driver overtakes van and narrowly avoids crash
- EasyJet pilot aborts landing at London Gatwick Airport due to storm
- Camilla hands out gifts at Royal Maundy ceremony on behalf of King
- Queen Camilla greets children after traditional Maundy service
- Starmer and Rayner embrace as they launch election campaign
- Police tape off Kennington station after 'multiple stabbings'
- British man fighting for Putin posts video from Russia online
- Tourist is filmed napping in his tent on the beach with a crocodile
- Hilarious moment King's Guard shout 'make way' at pigeons in London
- Sally Nugent hilariously finds out 'hedgehog' is a hat bobble
- Police surround Kennington tube station after reports of stabbing
- 'Satan took over me': Hamas terrorist confesses of raping woman