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Donald Trump challenged to identify London no-go areas as MPs consider banning him from UK

Elizabeth Bates | PoliticsHome

4 min read Partner content

Labour MP Paul Flynn tells PoliticsHome why banning Donald Trump from the UK would make him a martyr, as he prepares to lead a Parliamentary debate on the issue later today.  

As the US Presidential race gains momentum, its most controversial candidate is making waves so powerful they are threatening UK shores.

Donald Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination, has caused widespread offence during his campaign, mostly recently by calling for Muslims to be banned from the entering the US and claiming that London had no go zones due to radicalisation.   

This, and many other inflammatory remarks, have prompted a petition in the UK calling for his exclusion, and with over 600,000 signatures it will now be debated by MPs.

Leading the discussion is Labour’s Paul Flynn, who suggests engaging with the business mogul, rather than making him a martyr for the far right and giving him “unnecessary attention and publicity.”

He tells PoliticsHome: “By far the best thing I believe, and what I would be advocating, is that we should invite him here and ask him to show us what the no-go areas for the police are in the United Kingdom.

“Perhaps we can discuss why there are more deaths per day in the United States from gunshot wounds than there are per year in the United Kingdom.

“There are a number of other issues we would like to discuss about our race relations. To have a civilised, respectful, courteous exchange of views in the House of Commons would be great.

“To take him for a walk down the streets in Brixton would be very educational for him and I believe that is a far better way of dealing with it than to suggest we react to the things that he said by trying to ban him from our country.”

This type of approach, he continues, could play a part in laying bare Trump’s unique outlook, which for Flynn is far from the political mainstream.  

“I believe that the views that he has expressed on so many subjects, on so many vulnerable groups are anathema to the rest of the intellectual, civilised political world.

“He is certainly taking American politics back to a place where few other politicians would want to be.” 

The move to debate the Presidential candidate’s right to enter the UK has not been universally welcomed, however, with some MPs, including Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, branding it a waste of time.

Dismissing this suggestion, Flynn responds: “It’s far from that. When half a million people want it discussed you should discuss it. I mean generally the House of Commons is very self-indulgent… of course we should discuss this.

“Who’ll be President of the United States is of vital importance to the whole world. It really has mattered to us in the past, whether it was a Roosevelt or a Kennedy or an Obama in the White House rather than a Reagan or Bush in the White House.

“That is crucial for world peace and prosperity. So, we do have a legitimate interest in this but we should have a debate with all views expressed on what would be the sensible thing to do.”

Keen to stress his admiration for US politics, the Newport West MP continues: “I want to pay tribute to America and the great contribution they have made to the world.

“They have sacrificed the blood of more of their sons and daughters in defence of democracy in more other countries than any other nation on earth.

“They are a land of the great democrats of our time, the Abraham Lincolns, of Obama, of Martin Luther King and we should be great admirers of the thinking of America.

“But I think we would like to have Donald Trump along here and discover that perhaps he is not one of the great intellectual giants that Americans have produced and that we would like to examine his thoughts in a reasonable way – not combative; courteous and respectful.”

The debate will take place today at 4.30pm in Westminster Hall.   

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