'Incredible Victory': People Power Forces Trump To Postpone UK State Visit

Say No To Trump projected by Global Justice Now on the Houses of Parliament. (Global Justice Now/Jess Hurd)

'Incredible Victory': People Power Forces Trump To Postpone UK State Visit

UPDATE: Reuters is reporting:

Prime Minister Theresa May's office said on Sunday there had been no change to plans for U.S. President Donald Trump's to come to Britain on a state visit, after the Guardian newspaper reported the trip had been postponed. "We aren't going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations," a spokeswoman for May's office said. "The queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans."

EARLIER: Donald Trump has reportedly told Prime Minister Theresa May that he will not come to the UK on a state visit if there are massive protests against him. Trump told May that he does not want to come if people do not welcome his visit.

The message was allegedly communicated in a phone-call between the pair in the last few weeks, according to the Guardian. An aide to the Prime Minister who was present during the phone-call said Mrs May was surprised.

Nick Dearden the director of Global Justice Now, which is part of the Stop Trump coalition in the UK, said Sunday:

"This is an incredible victory. By Trump's own admission, people power has forced him to postpone this state visit which Theresa May should never have offered in the first place. As part of the Stop Trump coalition, we put tens of thousands of people on the streets earlier this year, and warned they would be multiplied many times over if Trump actually came to the UK. He's running scared, just like Theresa May.

"Trump reportedly says he would not come to Britain until the British public support him coming. He'll be waiting a long time because the tide is finally turning on this wave of populist right-wing politics. This is another major blow for our own Prime Minister, who has peddled her own version of Trump's politics, lining up with human rights abusing regimes across the world and blaming migrants and foreigners for the problems created by years of neoliberal governments.

"We must not only be tough of Trump but tough on the causes of Trump's politics - the free market policies of the last 40 years which put profit ahead of people. If we really want to halt the politics which Trump represents, we need to build an economy and society which puts people first. We won't be putting away our placards yet - we'll keep fighting everything Trump represents and the extreme danger posed by his policies on climate change, on immigration, on the middle east, and on civil rights."

The acting US ambassador to the UK, Lewis Lukens, a career diplomat, clashed with Trump last week by praising Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, for his strong leadership over the London Bridge and Borough Market terror attack.

His remarks came just days after Trump criticized Khan for his response to the attack, misquoting the mayor's message to Londoners not to be alarmed by the increased presence of armed police.

Khan's office pointed out Trump's error later but the president responded by accusing London's mayor of making a "pathetic excuse". Khan then called on the UK government to cancel Trump's invitation. No date had been fixed for the visit.

Just seven days after he was elected, Mrs May invited Trump and his wife for a state visit while she was in Washington to meet with him.

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