London: An online petition that has crossed the 100,000 signatures threshold has called for a ban on Donald Trump from entering the U.K. after the US Presidential hopeful called for a temporary ban on the entry of all Muslims into America.
"If the United Kingdom is to continue applying the 'unacceptable behaviour' criteria to those who wish to enter its borders, it must be fairly applied to the rich as well as poor, and the weak as well as the powerful," the petition launched by Suzanne Kelly, a Scottish-based campaigner and critic of Trump's latest golf course in Aberdeenshire, said.
Britain, however, has said it has no plans to ban Donald Trump over his comments about Muslims despite a growing number of calls for his exclusion, the country's Treasury chief said Wednesday.
Prime Minister David Cameron and other British politicians have condemned Trump's call for all Muslims to be barred from entering the U.S. in the wake of violence by Islamic extremists.
Once an online petition has surpassed the 100,000-signature threshold, it means that a committee of lawmakers must consider it for debate in Parliament.
Finance minister George Osborne told lawmakers that Trump's "nonsense" views "fly in the face of the founding principles of the United States." But he said it would be wrong to "ban presidential candidates."
Answering questions in the House of Commons, Osborne said "the best way to confront the views of someone like Donald Trump is to engage in a robust democratic argument with him about why he is profoundly wrong."
The government has the power to bar people considered a threat to public safety or national security, or those with criminal convictions. In the past the U.K. has denied entry to figures as diverse as boxer Mike Tyson, rapper Tyler the Creator, radical Muslim preachers and the late Christian fundamentalist Fred Phelps. Sr.
(With AP inputs)
