As of 11 December 2015, the e-petition to ban Donald Trump from the United Kingdom surpassed half a million signatures . Donald Trump has since threatened to pull his investments out of Scotland.
His unchecked racism may come to a halt…in the UK. Parliament to debate a ban on Trump. > https://t.co/RXVJCQBStJ pic.twitter.com/HhkXnL6diN
— Milk (@MilkStudios) January 6, 2016
However the discussion proceeds in Parliament, it is unlikely Trump will be banned. This is due to the fact that politics will not consider the opinions when it comes to money. Donald Trump is rich and can buy himself a free pass to European shores, through Britain, due to his threat to pull his investments if the government actually listens to its people.
Trump responds: will pull Scotland investments if UK petition to ban Trump succeeds https://t.co/sGlwJEytxS
— Victor Cognovit (@VictorCognovit) January 8, 2016
Time and time again in the United Kingdom and other Western democracies, the people either object to war, oppose banker bonuses, and demand that companies like Starbucks pay their taxes… and each time the people lose. Companies are “too big to fail,” expensive wars are fought on false pretences, austerity cuts are made without remorse, and the rise of food banks in Britain attests to a large population at risk of hunger due to austerity reforms .
Why Do The British Want Donald Trump Banned?
Donald Trump represents what people across the pond see as arrogant, ignorant, sexist, racist… in short, all the ignoble qualities of a libertarian “nutter” seeking to reduce the world to a game of Cowboys and Indians. The fact is that the man does not represent the values that are important to a forward-looking society. At least, that is how Europe and the United Kingdom see it.
It is more than Trump’s character that has the British in a bother. It is his politics. He not only mocks women’s biologies, but also he thinks Paris is in Germany , admires Vladimir Putin (the Voldemort of International Politics), and upholds the general platform of the Republican right wing, which is perceived worldwide as a group of climate-denying, warmongering, immigrant-blaming homophobes who want to turn the clock backwards on rights earned for women and gays.
Trump to ban Muslims, Bush to ban Mexicans, Carson to ban gays – Good Job idiots not banned from running for office https://t.co/Nwx8gOIncK
— Robin Sones (@RMSones) January 6, 2016
The liberal values of multiculturalism appear to have failed – first with 911 and its aftermath, then the proceeding wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 7/7 attacks in Britain, Charlie Hebdo (#jesuischarlie), and the most recent November 15, 2015 Paris attacks in which 129 people were killed, gunned down by Islamic terrorists, one of whom escaped to Syria.
It is easy to see how people are afraid, but statistics like the fact that in 2013 more Americans were killed by toddlers than terrorists beg the question of how much of a threat terrorists really pose and whether this threat is enough to justify the anti-immigrant rhetoric that Trump and the other Republican candidates propagate. It appeals to those who give terrorists exactly what they want: fear.
But this is all a moot point if Donald Trump wins the 2016 Presidential election. If this happens, the world will have to accept at least four years of this man’s view on politics. He cannot be banned from the United Kingdom if he is US President, or this would be very embarrassing for Britain. On the other hand, it is the will of the British people, and therefore the government will probably simply express sympathy for the view of the people, but say it is “not practical” due, mostly, to Trump’s money. Donald Trump has hundreds of millions invested in the United Kingdom, particularly in Scotland where he has a golf course.
Trump’s threat to pull his investments from Britain if they ban him will most assuredly result in the Prime Minister, David Cameron, yet again pandering to the interests of the rich, as may will see it, and not taking the petition seriously. On the other hand, there is yet a chance the unthinkable could happen; the man is largely detested in the UK, and that is clear from the petition itself.
[Image by By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Donald Trump) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons / Altered]