Welsh MPs join calls for axe of Trump state visit
MPs have demanded the cancellation of US President Donald Trump’s controversial state visit amid a deepening transatlantic storm over extremism. Prime Minister Theresa May insisted Mr Trump had been “wrong” to share inflammatory anti-Muslim videos posted online by the deputy leader of the far-right Britain First group. However she rejected the growing clamour to call off the president’s state visit, insisting she remained committed to the UK-US “special relationship”.
But Rhondda Labour MP Chris Bryant said: “This was not an accident, it wasn’t stupid. It was deliberate and intentional... You cannot stand up to horrible racism or pretend to do so and invite the man in through the front door.”
And Cardiff South and Penarth Labour MP Stephen Doughty added: “This is the President of the United States sharing, with millions, inflammatory and divisive content... By sharing it, he is either a racist, incompetent or unthinking – or all three.”
DONALD Trump was “wrong” to retweet videos produced by the “hateful” Britain First organisation, Prime Minister Theresa May has said.
But Mrs May indicated that she is not withdrawing her invitation for the US President to come to the UK on a state visit, despite widespread calls for the trip to be cancelled.
Mr Trump sparked outrage in the UK by retweeting three videos from the far-right group, purportedly showing violent acts by Muslims.
In response to a statement from Downing Street describing his actions as “wrong”, the President issued a late-night tweet directed personally at the Prime Minister, saying: “@TheresaMay, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”
In her first personal response to the furore, at a press conference during a visit to Jordan, Mrs May said the UK and US worked closely together in the fight against terrorism.
And she added: “The fact that we work together does not mean that we are afraid to say when we think that the United States have got it wrong and to be very clear with them.
“I am very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do.”
Mrs May’s rebuke to the president won applause from her Jordanian audience.
Asked whether she regarded Mr Trump as a fit person to be hosted by the Queen on a state visit, the Prime Minister said only: “An invitation for a state visit has been extended and has been accepted. We have yet to set a date.”
She said: “Britain First is a hateful organisation. It seeks to spread division and mistrust among our communities. It stands in fundamental opposition to the values we share as a nation – values of respect, tolerance and common British decency. On the issue of radical Islamism, British Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding who have themselves been victims of acts of terror by the far right. There are those who conduct acts of terror in the name of Islam, but it is not in the name of Islam.
“As Prime Minister, I am very clear about the priority that I give to dealing with the challenge of the threat of terrorism ... and extremism from whatever source they come.”
Asked whether she regarded the US President as a “supporter and enabler of far-right groups”, Mrs May said: “We must all take seriously the threat that far-right groups pose both in terms of the terrorist threat that is posed by those groups and the necessity of dealing with extremist material which is far-right as well.
“I’ve commented in the past on issues in the United States on this matter. In the United Kingdom we take the far right very seriously and that’s why we ensure we deal with these threats and this extremism wherever it comes and whatever its source.”
But she made clear that she wanted to maintain the UK’s close relations with the US, regardless of Mr Trump’s actions.
“This is a long-term special relationship that we have,” said Mrs May.
“It is an enduring relationship that is there because it is in both our national interests for that relationship to be there. As Prime Minister, I am clear that that relationship with the United States should continue. I think it is in the interests both of the United Kingdom and the United States and of the wider world.”
Wales Office minister Lord Bourne said that “millions of fellow Britons of all races and religions and none” were appalled by Mr Trump’s conduct. He said it was “understandable that they feel unable to welcome him here under these circumstances” and “nor could I”.
In the House of Commons, a string of MPs demanded the cancellation of Mr Trump’s visit, with some saying the Government should demand the President apologise to the British people.
Newport West Labour MP Paul Flynn said Trump should be “charged with inciting racial hatred” if he came to the UK, while fellow Labour MP Naz Shah suggested the “commander-in-tweet” should be placed on the list of those banned from entering the country for promoting “the hate-filled ideology of fascism”.
Ceredigion Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake said it was “important that the messages of hate spread by the President of the United States are condemned for the vile acts they truly are”.
Cardiff West Labour MP Kevin Brennan suggested a solution to get the
Government out of its “diplomatic ditch”. He said: “Her Majesty the Queen, because of her great and very welcome age has been cutting back on her engagements. She’s got a royal wedding to look forward to next year and the birth of a new great-grandchild.
“Don’t those facts alone justify the Government announcing the postponement of the state visit by the President of the United States for at least, say, three years?”
Rhondda Labour MP Chris Bryant gave an angry denunciation of Mr Trump’s behaviour, saying: “This was not an accident, it wasn’t stupid. It was deliberate and intentional...
“He’s a repeat offender and it will go on and on and on... You cannot stand up to horrible racism or pretend to do so and invite the man in through the front door.”
Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said Mr Trump’s online behaviour was “offensive to all decent British people”.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd appeared to indicate her agreement to a call from Tory MP Peter Bone for the President to delete his Twitter account, telling MPs: “I’m sure many of us might share his view.”
But Ms Rudd urged MPs to bear in mind the importance of the UK’s special relationship with the US when voicing their concerns.
“The importance of the relationship between our countries and the unparalleled sharing of intelligence between our countries is vital,” said the Home Secretary. “It has undoubtedly saved British lives. That is the big picture here and I would urge people to remember that.”
The criticism of Mr Trump in Parliament came after Commons Speaker John Bercow granted a debate on an urgent question from Cardiff South and Penarth Labour MP Stephen Doughty.
He said: “This is the President of the United States sharing, with millions, inflammatory and divisive content, deliberately posted to sow hatred and division... By sharing it, he is either a racist, incompetent or unthinking – or all three.”
Mr Bercow made clear his own disapproval of the content of the videos shared by the President, telling MPs: “I thought the House would want urgently to express support for the victims of racism and bigotry and to denounce their purveyors.”
In a flurry of social media posts on Wednesday morning, Mr Trump retweeted three posts by Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen to his 43.6 million followers, including footage from the Netherlands purporting to show a Muslim migrant attacking a man on crutches.
The retweets were made without comment, but were regarded by many in the UK as an effective endorsement of the far-right group.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said Mr Trump had “endorsed the views of a vile, hate-filled racist organisation that hates me and people like me”.
The criticisms from London appear to have sparked the virtuallyunprecedented social media rebuke by a head of state to the leader of a close ally, as Mr Trump used a latenight tweet to address Mrs May directly. His comments prompted demands for the cancellation of the state visit, which was offered by Mrs May during her visit to Washington in January and is expected to take place next year.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Mrs May should withdraw the invitation and demand an apology on behalf of the British people, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable branded Mr Trump an “evil racist” who should not be given the honour of a state visit.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said Mr Trump’s tweets were designed to “humiliate and belittle” the Prime Minister and had put the Queen in a “very difficult and invidious position” as his host for the planned state visit.
“If he comes next year, a year which is supposed to be a really happy year for the Royal Family, what on Earth are people supposed to make of it?” asked Ms Thornberry.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Mrs May was “absolutely right” to criticise Mr Trump’s initial tweet.
THERE is deep concern that Donald Trump shared antiMuslim videos online, dismay that this involved re-Tweeting a member of a British far right group, irritation at his rebuke to the Prime Minister and a deep sense of sadness at what the US Presidency has become.
The most powerful man in the world shared video posts intended to foster fear of a religious group with his many millions of followers.
Mr Trump is supposedly working to secure an unprecedented peace deal in the Middle East. He has travelled to Muslim majority countries and spoken of the common threat that terrorism poses to different societies.
The diplomats who coordinated these visits must have felt like weeping when they saw their Commander in Chief share vulgar and disturbing videos that had been posted by a member of Britain First.
His response to criticism from a Downing St spokesman was to turn his Twitter guns on Theresa May, telling her to “focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom”.
He appears on a mission to convince his base that they are safer in the US under his leadership than they would be in a European country. His recent cheap criticism of Mayor of London Sajid Javid shared the same purpose.
Mrs May could have responded by pointing out that the United States’ refusal to control the supply of guns is directly leaked to a death rate from firearms vastly higher than other industrialised countries. But of course she didn’t; it’s traditionally a prerequisite of a premier that he or she doesn’t go out of his or her way to needlessly offend or rile an international counterpart. Mr Trump shows no such maturity or concern.
He also found time yesterday to attack the New York Times and insult both China and North Korea, saying: “The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man.”
If war breaks out on the Korean peninsula the death toll could run into the millions. Does the present occupant of the Oval Office grasp the impact his words have?
His sharing of Britain First Tweets may also have horrible consequences.
A President has the power to change culture far beyond the US borders. He can drag opinions his predecessors would have consider vile and despicable into the terrain of the mainstream.
Mr Trump has just elevated the profile of a group that is widely considered odious in what will look to many people like a digital endorsement.
He will enjoy the barrage of criticism now flung in his direction and tell his followers this is proof that he is a maverick who is not bound by political correctness.
There are good reasons to be concerned about both Islamic extremism and far right hate-mongering but whipping up fears of a minority will do nothing to make our communities safer and he should know better.