SEND HIM HOME TO THINK AGAIN
Scots urged to join biggest Trump protest Organisers leaflet thousands in streets
Scots have been urged to make the protest against this week’s Donald Trump visit the biggest the country has ever seen.
Three rallies are planned in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow on Friday and Saturday, with more likely to follow.
A vast coalition of politicians, unions and campaigners are calling for the public to rise up in protest at Trump’s presence here.
Protesters from the Scotland Against Trump group were on the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh yesterday giving out leaflets condemning the US president.
They are angered by Trump’s racism, sexism and pol icies, which include separating children of asylum seekers from their parents and keeping youngsters in cages.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “I would encourage everyone who holds values of decency and dignity to oppose his visit to Scotland.”
It was confirmed late on Friday that Trump and his wife Melania will head north of the border following a meeting with the Queen this Friday.
The presidential party will stay at his luxury golf resort at Turnberry. A visit to his other Scottish course at Menie, Aberdeenshire, has not been ruled out.
Police have been drafted in from across the UK to help beef up the security operation and keep Trump away from protesters during the visit.
Leonard added: “All of civic Scotland stands ready to tell Donald Trump that he and his politics are not welcome here.
“The sight of mothers separated from babies – and children caged like animals – has horrified people across the globe. We should not welcome the man responsible.
“It is my view, and that of the Scottish Labour Party, that someone who holds such misogynist, racist and anti-trade union views – not to mention his dangerous approach to foreign policy and someone who rejects the Paris Climate Change Agreement – should not be given the ‘red carpet’ treatment.
“That is why Scottish Labour are helping to lead the Scotland United Against Trump campaign to ensure there is a mass protest with events in Glasgow and Edinburgh.”
Kathleen Kennedy, president of Aberdeen Trades Union Council, who are helping coordinate a further protest at Menie, said: “Since Trump became president, we’ve seen a worrying rollback of human rights, most recently in the separation of young children from their parents on the Mexico border.
“This comes on top of the discriminatory travel ban, his reckless announcement on Jerusalem and harmful policies on refugees, women’s rights and climate change.
“His visit to Britain will be an important opportunity to underline the importance of free speech and the right to protest, freedoms which he seems to have little time for.”
Trump’s travel ban, uni laterally targeting a string of Muslim-majority countries, has prompted widespread opposition. Last month, the US Supreme Court upheld the president’s block on travel from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen to the US.
Trump also sparked a global backlash last year after retweeting a string of anti-Islamic videos posted by far-right group Britain First. He shared the anti-Muslim messages from Jayda Fransen with his 43.5million followers.
The protests in Glasgow and Edinburgh are being organised by Scotland United Against Trump, a group spanning unions, politicians and campaigners.
Scotland United Against Trump’s Kirsty Haigh said: “Trump likes to talk up his Scottish connections – but we are going to show that his politics are not welcome here.
“A growing coalition of organisations and campaigns are coming together to say that Scotland will stand united against Trump. We are going to build support for two massive days of action with a rally in Glasgow and national demonstration and festival in Edinburgh.
“We will also send a message to the Tory Government that we will not tolerate their pandering to Trump.”
Campaigners believe it will be among the biggest political protests ever seen in Scotland.
The umbrella group of protesters includes the SNP, Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Unison and organisations such as Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford described the visit as “an opportunity to show we wi l l never compromise our values”.
He said: “Trump will go back to America with a clear message that in Scotland we build bridges, not walls. Scotland and America have historic ties that go back centuries and that will not be undermined by the policies of one president.
“We share values with the American people of equality, diversity and support for human rights and must always stand up for those values when they are threatened.
“The president’s approach threatens international co-operation on key issues like climate change and it is our job to show that we will not be put off our efforts by his opposition.”
Patrick Harvie, co- convener of the Scottish Greens, said: “Scotland has seen the bullying, arrogant and delusional side of Donald Trump long before his election.
“Since becoming president, the whole world has seen far worse, as he gives political space to white supremacists and seeks to wreck international cooperation on climate
change. We should unite to show him he’s un welcome me and demand that the UK Government ent stop treating this dangerous man as though his politics are legitimate.” Dave Moxham, STUC deputy general secretary, said: “All of the organisations coming together for these protests agree that Donald Trump’s presidency is proving every bit as dangerous and divisive as people feared. “Trump’s administration represent corrupt corporate interests – cutting taxes for the rich, attacking workers’ rights, undermining democracy, endangering action on climate change and stoking resentment based on racism, sexism, transphobia and bigotry.” Chris Gal l igan, from migration support group Open Borders Scotland, condemned the visit and said “people will show our opposition to Trump’s inhumanity”.
He added: “No one deserves the kind of brutal inhumane reception that Donald Trump has visited on immigrants at the US-Mexican border.”
Dunblane survivor Aimie Adam has also challenged Trump to meet her to discuss gun control during his UK visit.
Aimie, 27, told us in May: “I want to meet him and hopefully I can twist his arm by letting him know what it is like to have your life devastated by gun violence.”
A giant “Trump baby” balloon which will fly above Whitehall in London during his visit will also follow him to Scotland.
Organiser Leo Murray said: “We have a team in place and helium supplies. We’ll have to get up the road as quickly as we can.”