The British government has confirmed that Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK will not be cancelled, despite more than 1 million people calling for it to be axed.
The US President’s executive order on Friday, which banned refugees from entering the US from seven predominantly Muslim countries, sparked outrage, with thousands of people demonstrating at airports.
Trump has been invited to visit Britain later this year and will be hosted by the Queen and treated to all the pomp and ceremony accorded to a state visit.
A Downing Street spokesman said on Monday the invitation had been “extended and accepted”, confirming reports that retracting the offer would “undo everything” from Trump’s talks with Theresa May last week.
More than one million people have signed a petition calling for Trump’s visit to be cancelled.
When a petition reaches more than 100,000 signatures, Parliament considers it for debate.
A statement on the government petition reads: “Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official state visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.”
It continues: “Donald Trump’s well documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales.
“Therefore during the term of his presidency Donald Trump should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official State Visit.”
Demonstrators are planning to protest against the policy outside Downing Street and across the UK on Monday evening.
Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP, have called for Trump’s visit to be cancelled and Tory MPs have warned against allowing it to go ahead.
Conservative former minister Alistair Burt said the “optics of a visit are currently very bad” and suggested American officials should find a way for it not to go ahead.
Labour MP Dan Jarvis said it was “very likely” there would be an urgent question in the House of Commons on Monday to discuss the travel ban.
The Foreign Office said Britons with dual citizenship would be exempt from the controversial travel ban.
But UK dual citizens travelling to the United States directly from one of the banned countries will face extra checks.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also won the same assurances for his citizens.
The immigration curbs sparked chaos across the US as travellers were detained at airports and thousands of protesters gathered to campaign against the policy.
May faced a backlash after repeatedly refusing to criticise Trump over the ban when questioned about the policy during a press conference on a visit to Turkey.
No 10 later said the Prime Minister, who is holding meetings in Cardiff and Dublin on Monday, did “not agree” with the policy and would act to help UK citizens.