US President Donald Trump's upcoming state visit to the United Kingdom should be respected and welcomed by UK citizens, given the potential for post-Brexit UK-US relations, Margot Parker, a member of the EU parliament for the East Midlands from the Brexit Party, told Sputnik on Thursday
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2019) US President Donald Trump's upcoming state visit to the United Kingdom should be respected and welcomed by UK citizens, given the potential for post-Brexit UK-US relations, Margot Parker, a member of the EU parliament for the East Midlands from the Brexit Party, told Sputnik on Thursday."Remember when [former US] President [Barack] Obama came here before our [Brexit] referendum and said that we shouldn't vote to leave as we'd be at the 'end of the queue?' This guy [Trump], as soon as he gets elected, says 'as soon as you leave (the EU) we're ready to forge great business deals with you.' Well I call that a positive. I call that absolutely tremendous. We need to say 'you're very welcome' and that we need to be doing business with those guys. Because we are. And we should. So for me I welcome him," she stressed.
Parker also noted it was important that the appropriate respect should be afforded to the US president, especially during the upcoming commemoration of the Operation Overlord, also known as D-Day, in which the UK, US and Canadian troops fought as part of a unified allied command to help defeat the Nazi occupation of much of Europe.
"He's been elected by the people of the United States, he is their President, and our oldest ally is the US. So I don't just see it as the president coming, but the head of the United States who is representing the American people. So that's incredibly important ... Given that we're going to be commemorating the Normandy Landings we need to show some respect. The United States was a tremendous ally, to us and the people of Europe, so he must be treated with the utmost respect," Parker said.
Parker went on to argue it was nonsensical to call for a cancellation of Trump's visit, claiming the UK government had previously given the "red carpet" to statesmen with "appalling" records on human rights without facing similar objections. Rather than disrespecting the US leader, she argued, people should recall the shared history between the UK and US, especially in light of potential trade deals once Britain exits the European Union.
"I'm horrified that some people are talking about trying to ban him. For what? We've had appalling people with terrible human rights records being given the red carpet in past visits, people who have no care whatsoever for human rights and decent behavior, so I think it's just stupid and childish that some politicians are offended by this visit. The American people voted for him. I respect the office. I respect him. He is the president of the United States," Parker noted.
President Trump's much touted state visit to the United Kingdom, now set to commence on the third of June, appears to have provoked mixed reactions from the British establishment, with mass demonstrations similar to what was seen during his previous visit being suggested as a possibility.
Around 50 Labour Party members of the parliament are also believed to have signed up to an Early Day Motion demanding the visit must be canceled, with the motion apparently accusing Trump of "misogynism, racism and xenophobia."
Organizers with the Stop Trump Coalition are already claiming they expect sizable numbers to be hitting the streets in protest at the presence of the US president. Campaigners claim some 250,000 people marched against the "working visit" of Trump to the United Kingdom last July, although some expect the total number of protesters this summer to exceed that number, believing public hostility to the US leader has increased.
