Parliament to consider debating if Donald Trump should be barred entry from the U.K.

Union Jack flags flying near the Big Ben in London

(Image credit: DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images)

published 9 December 2015

More than 100,000 British citizens signed a petition calling for Donald Trump to be barred entry to the U.K., exceeding the number of signatures necessary for the government to be required to consider debating the proposal. The petition, which was written following Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, cites British hate speech laws as grounds for blocking the Republican frontrunner:

"The U.K. has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech. The same principles should apply to everyone who wishes to enter the U.K. If the United Kingdom is to continue applying the 'unacceptable behavior' criteria to those who wish to enter its borders, it must be fairly applied to the rich as well as poor, and the weak as well as powerful." [Petition Parliament via The New York Times]

Donald Trump's plan, which has been widely panned both by liberals and conservatives in the States, has been met with similar outrage in Britain, where headlines about Trump's proposal led today's issues of The Times, The Guardian, and The Telegraph. Prime Minister David Cameron called Trump "divisive, unhelpful, and quite simply wrong" and Tulip Siddiq, a member of Parliament, said she backed proposals to keep Trump out of Britain, labeling him "poisonous." London Mayor Boris Johnson agreed, saying he would avoid "some part of New York" because of the "real risk of meeting Donald Trump."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.