Donald Trump debate in British parliament

Donald Trump racism, cartoon

‘I’d treat Trump to a visit to Brixton’

Tuesday 19th January 2016

MPs debate banning US presidential hopeful

US BILLIONAIRE bigot Donald Trump should not [be] banned from Britain but instead be forced to visit Brixton, Labour MP Paul Flynn suggested yesterday.

With 574,000 signatures, a petition to have the racist presidential hopeful excluded from the country won more than five times the support needed to trigger a debate in Parliament and is currently the most popular official e-petition.

Mr Flynn presented the petition, sparked by Mr Trump’s call for all Muslims to be banned from the US, in a three-hour Westminster Hall debate.

He listed a litany of “dangerous” comments, which also include slurs against women, disabled people and Mexicans.

“He has done some remarkable things that have caused a great deal of upset,” Mr Flynn conceded. But the veteran MP argued that a ban would only play into Mr Trump’s hand, boosting his image as a straight-talking outsider.

The British government does not apply that principle to, eg, Muslim preachers saying abject stuff; it bans them.

Mr Flynn cited the high-profile case of far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who was banned from Britain in 2009 only to have the ruling overturned on appeal, which embarrassed the government.

SNP MP Tommy Sheppard, who wants to keep Mr Trump out, asked Mr Flynn: “What would be an appropriate response for this country to the US in order to protect the people we represent?”

Mr Flynn replied: “I would urge the alternative of inviting him here, and I’d be delighted if he could show us where the so-called no-go areas for police are. I’ve never been able to find them.

“It would be a pleasure to take him down to Brixton and show him the rich mixture of races and creeds that are living happily together there.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also offered to take Mr Trump on a tour of mosques in his Islington North constituency and introduce him to his Mexican wife.

On the eve of the debate, activists from Scotland’s new Rise party staged protests outside two luxury hotels owned by the tycoon.

A spokesman said they aimed to “disrupt, however briefly, Trump’s ability to generate profit in Scotland that will then be spent on his campaign of racist demonisation and scapegoating in the US.”