Tens of thousands of people on Monday protested in London and other British cities against US President Donald Trump’s ban on entry to the US by refugees and people from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
Thousands of people, some holding placards reading “No to Racism, No to Trump,” “Dump Trump” and “I stand with Muslims,” joined a protest outside the Downing Street residence of British Prime Minister Theresa May, the first leader to visit Trump.
Some chanted “Shame on May” for her offer to Trump of a visit to Britain while 1.5 million people signed a petition calling for Trump’s planned trip later this year — which is to involve lavish displays of royal pageantry and a banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth II — to be canceled.
Photo: EPA
“It’s a lot worse under Trump than I was expecting, because it’s only been 10 days but he’s changed so much already,” said 23-year-old British-Iraqi Rawnak Jassm, who joined the protest. “It’s pretty scary.”
Trump’s immigration order, which was signed just hours after his meeting with the British prime minister in Washington, has soured May’s attempt to show that post-Brexit vote Britain can have a “special relationship” with the world’s superpower.
Some British voters, including thousands on protests across Britain, have expressed concern that May has failed to criticize Trump sufficiently for his temporary ban on travel to the US by people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Photo: AFP
While the protests in Britain were smaller than those in the US, they illustrate how Trump’s first days in office have had a sometimes unexpected impact on politics across the world, even in some close allies such as Britain.
Trump said the new controls were aimed at securing the US by keeping out Muslim militants, but protesters in Britain said the measures were racist and anti-Muslim.
Jassm expressed anger at May’s lack of criticism of Trump and urged her to stand up for the rights of all people.
“We have to campaign and make sure May stands up for the rights of everyone everywhere,” said Jassm, a project manager in local government.
May’s attempt to court Trump, who hailed Britain’s June 23 vote to leave the EU as a “wonderful thing,” came in for particular criticism with some saying Britain was now in a weaker position after the Brexit vote.
One picture of May at the protest was adorned with the words: “The lady don’t protest enough.”
Another read: “Theresa the Appeaser.”
May on Monday said that Britain has a different approach to immigration but that the US was a close ally and that the invitation to Trump stood.
“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,” May said.
“I have formally issued that invitation to President Trump and that invitation stands,” she said.
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson was more frank, saying Trump’s ban is “divisive, discriminatory and wrong.”
Johnson said he had told US officials that it is wrong “to promulgate policies that stigmatize people on the basis of their nationality.”
He told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the Trump administration had assured him that “all British passport holders remain welcome to travel to the US,” even if they are also citizens of one of the seven countries.
An online petition opposing Trump’s trip has more than 1.5 million signatures.
Any petition with more than 100,000 signatures must be considered for a debate in parliament, though not a binding vote.
Additional reporting by AP
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was