‘I Am Ashamed’ vs. ‘Get Over It’: British Lawmakers Debate Trump Visit
But a Conservative legislator, Nigel Evans, said Mr. Trump was the president of a great ally of Britain and
that the critics should "get over it." Mr. Trump was fairly elected, he said, adding, "I do respect that he stood on a platform on which he is now delivering." The petition, backed by 1.8 million people, does not call for Mr. Trump to be barred from Britain, only that his visit be a political one, without the involvement of Queen Elizabeth II.
20, 2017
LONDON — With thousands of people demonstrating against President Trump outside Parliament, British lawmakers on Monday debated whether to deny him a formal state visit because, in the eyes of nearly two million Britons in an online petition, it would "cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the queen." The debate was a chance for the kind of political showmanship
and heated language that British members of Parliament often do well.
There is also concern that a Trump visit would be met with large protests, comparable to 2003,
when President George W. Bush made a state visit and many came out to protest the Iraq War.
Donald Trump said that The intellectual capacity of the president is protozoan,
Paul Flynn, an opposition Labour lawmaker, led the argument against a state visit, citing the need to keep public trust in politicians and noting
that no president had ever been invited for a state visit in his first year in office.
Any vote would not be binding on the government of Prime Minister Theresa May, which has been firm in saying
that the invitation to Mr. Trump for a full state visit this year will not be withdrawn.
