Mayor would refuse to meet US president
MAYOR Andy Burnham would refuse to meet Donald Trump were he to visit Greater Manchester during his planned state visit, he has told our sister paper the M.E.N.
Mr Burnham said that as a ‘matter of principle’ he would not host the U.S. President after he shared ‘hateful, extremist material’ online.
The mayor has joined with politicians of all parties – including the Prime Minister – to condemn Mr Trump for retweeting a series of videos by the far-right group Britain First. He also called on Theresa May to withdraw the President’s invitation for a full state visit.
But the Prime Minister has declined to do so – with one Conservative backbencher suggesting Mr Trump use that trip to visit cities such as Manchester, in order to better understand the country’s Muslim community.
Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford-Upon-Avon, wrote in a letter to the White House that the President would ‘find enlightening’ the experience of ‘visiting our beautiful cities like Coventry, Birmingham, Manchester and London’ in order to see how different communities live ‘peaceably’ alongside one another.
However, Greater Manchester’s mayor made clear that should Manchester feature on the President’s itinerary, he would not be welcomed.
“Greater Manchester has always stood against extremism of any kind and that includes the extreme views emanating from the Oval Office,” Mr Burnham told the M.E.N.
“I call on the Prime Minister to withdraw the invitation of a state visit. Donald Trump’s presence in Greater Manchester would go against the values that people here stand for.
“It is a matter of principle that I don’t meet people who distribute hateful, extremist material.”