© 2016 BBC
Brilio.net/en - Reality TV never ended for Donald Trump. Or so it seems as the Parliamentary Committee in Britain concluded their three-hour debate about whether or not Donald Trump should be banned from the country.
Scottish journalist and activist Suzanne Kelly launched a petition last month to block the U.S. Republican Presidential candidate from entering the United Kingdom on the basis of his hate speech and wanting to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. The hateful comments from Trump came after the San Bernardino mass shooting in California, which left 14 people dead at the hands of terrorists. The petition received more than 576,000 signatures which is well over the 100,000 that parliament requires for debating a topic.
As most politics is, the debate was political theater at its finest. In a turn of events, Parliament has no power to ban Mr. Trump from entering the country as that decision belongs to the home secretary. The three-hour debate was a platform used by the British politicians to discuss American policies and their views of the Republican candidate. Under the protection of the parliamentary privilege extended to them, they have legal protection that shields that from facing charges of slander and defamation. Most politicians were quick to condemn the American billionaire and his radical, right wing policies, especially on immigration.
Yet banning Trump may not be in the best economic interest of the United Kingdom, as the outspoken and theatrical businessman stated that he would abandon his plans for a $1.1billion investment in Scotland if he would not be allowed to enter the country.
In the past the United Kingdom has banned one American citizen from entering the country on the grounds that their presence is deemed nonconductive to the public good. The U.S. pastor Terry Jones, a Hamas lawmaker and former Klu-Klux-Klan member was banned after incidents of burning the Quran.
British Prime Minister James Cameron stated that Donald Trumps views on Muslims are divisive, stupid and wrong but banning him would be entirely unnecessary. If he came to visit our country, I think he would unite us against him, he said.
Perhaps the best response to Donald Trump came from London mayor Boris Johnson, who said The only reason I wouldn't go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump."
(Reported by Ivana Lucic)
(brl/tis)
