E-petitions 114003 and 114907 relating to the exclusion of Donald Trump from the UK
The Petitions Committee has agreed that a debate would be held in relation to both petitions. The debate will be held under the motion, “That this House has considered e-petitions114003 and 114907 relating to the exclusion of Donald Trump from the UK”. The debate will be led by Paul Flynn, a member of the Petitions Committee.
A petition to ban US presidential candidate Donald Trump from entering the UK, because of a number of remarks he had made, was started in November 2015. Some weeks later Mr Trump said that Muslims should be banned from entering the US. The petition now has over 500,000 signatures. An opposing petition, calling for Mr Trump not to be banned, has over 40,000 signatures.
The Home Secretary and immigration officials can refuse permission to enter the UK, or revoke permission already granted, for reasons related to an individual’s character, conduct or associations. It is also possible for the Home Secretary to exclude a person even if they have not indicated an intention to travel to the UK.
It is not Government policy to publicise exclusion decisions as a matter of routine. In a speech delivered to the Royal United Services Institute in late November 2014, the Home Secretary said that she had excluded “hundreds” of people from the UK. Some names do get into the public domain, but these represent a tiny fraction of those who are banned.
The legal and policy framework is set out in Library Briefing Paper 7035, ‘Visa bans’: Powers to refuse or revoke immigration permission forreasons of character, conduct or associations