UK lawmakers: Trump’s state visit invite may be downgraded

U.S. President Donald Trump should not be afforded the “rare privilege” of a state visit, a British opposition lawmaker said Monday, as Parliament debated a call for Trump’s invitation to be downgraded and stripped of its royal seal of approval.

The nonbinding debate was called in response to an online petition with more than 1.8 million signatures saying a formal state visit “would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.”

As lawmakers meeting in a sideroom of Parliament rather than the House of Commons chamber debated, hundreds of Trump opponents gathered outside to protest.

Opening the debate, Labour Party legislator Paul Flynn pointed out that only two other U.S. presidents — George W. Bush and Barack Obama — have been invited for state visits since the 1950s.

State visits are distinct from official visits and see foreign leaders welcomed with royal pomp and military ceremony.