--- description: United Kingdom members of parliament will discuss popular call to bar Donald Trump from entering Britain title: British Lawmakers to Debate Call to Ban Donald Trump From UK image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5dcd33e795b63e14/6988795cbc6cfc472c3db440/donald-trump6.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # British Lawmakers to Debate Call to Ban Donald Trump from U.K. by [Eliza Gray](/author/eliza-gray/) ## Eliza Gray Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 15, 2016 11:59 PM CUT  Donald Trump speaks at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi, on Jan.2, 2016. Donald Trump speaks at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi, on Jan.2, 2016.Spencer Platt—Getty Images by [Eliza Gray](/author/eliza-gray/) ## Eliza Gray Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 15, 2016 11:59 PM CUT On Jan. 18, the U.K. parliament will debate a [petition](https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/114003 "undefined") signed by more than half a million people to ban Donald Trump from entering the country. The petition was started by a [journalist and satirist](http://time.com/4144268/ban-donald-trump-u-k/ "undefined") in Scotland after Trump’s controversial demand for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States. But the debate is not unusual and does not necessarily mean that the British government is considering banning Trump. Parliament considers [all petitions](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/09/petition-calling-for-donald-trump-to-be-banned-from-uk-signed-by-85000 "undefined") with more than 100,000 signatures. Thus far, the British government has stayed silent on whether it will consider a Trump ban. The official government [response](https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/114003 "undefined") posted by the petition states: “the Government does not routinely comment on individual immigration and exclusion decisions.” Home Secretary Theresa May, whose office holds the power to prevent individuals from access to the U.K., [refused to comment on Trump’s case](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-35113313 "undefined") in December but George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer and David Cameron’s right-hand man, has signaled that a ban is unlikely. “The best way to defeat nonsense like this is to engage in robust and democratic debate, and to make it clear his views are not welcome,” he said after Trump’s controversial comments, the _Guardian_ [reported](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/09/petition-calling-for-donald-trump-to-be-banned-from-uk-signed-by-85000 "undefined"). [**Read more:** Why I Am Campaigning to Ban Donald Trump From the U.K.](http://time.com/4144268/ban-donald-trump-u-k/ "undefined") It would not be the first time the British government had banned a divisive figure. According to the government [response](https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/114003 "undefined") , “The Home Secretary may exclude a non-European Economic Area national from the U.K. if she considers their presence in the U.K. to be non-conducive to the public good.” Over 200 have been [banned](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-35113313 "undefined") since 2010. Controversial Americans have been denied entry to the U.K. before, from [Louis Farrakhan](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1959105.stm "undefined"), the American leader of the Nation of Islam to [Shirley Phelps-Roper](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/08/donald-trump-people-banned-from-uk%5Fn%5F8940652.html "undefined"), a spokesperson for the controversial Westboro Baptist Church, and anti-immigration activist [Pamela Geller](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-23064355 "undefined"). Trump isn’t happy about the prospect of joining them. “The U.K. politicians should be thanking me instead of pandering to political correctness,” he wrote in an op-ed in Scotland’s [_Press and Journal_](https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/scotland/775791/donald-trump-writes-pj-politicians-thanking-not-pandering-political-correctness/ "undefined") newspaper. He has threatened to pull tens of millions of dollars worth of investment in two golf courses in Scotland if a ban comes to pass, according to the _Telegraph_. The billionaire has a rocky history with the United Kingdom, particularly in Scotland. The 2011 documentary _You’ve Been Trumped_, by British director Anthony Baxter, depicts Trump’s tempestuous relationship with local residents in a town in Scotland where he had built a luxury golf course. Trump’s lawyers tried to [block](http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/22/donald-trump-bbc-film-row "undefined") the film from the _BBC_ on grounds that it was “defamatory” and “deliberately misleading.” The debate in the House of Commons has been set for Monday morning, when members of parliament are likely to make their feelings about Trump known in characteristically colorful terms. And given statements made in the Commons are exempt from Britain’s powerful defamation laws, Trump’s lawyers will be able to do little about it. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4182646/donald-trump-britain-united-kingdom-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4182646/donald-trump-britain-united-kingdom-debate/"},"headline":"British Lawmakers to Debate Call to Ban Donald Trump from U.K.","datePublished":"2016-01-15T23:59:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:10:49.832Z","description":"A popular petition to ban the real estate mogul gets its day in parliament","url":"https://time.com/4182646/donald-trump-britain-united-kingdom-debate/","keywords":["United Kingdom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5dcd33e795b63e14/6988795cbc6cfc472c3db440/donald-trump6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Gray","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-gray/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5dcd33e795b63e14/6988795cbc6cfc472c3db440/donald-trump6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BILOXI, MS - JANUARY 02: Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump speaks at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on January 2, 2016 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Trump, who has strong support from Southern voters, spoke to thousands in the small Mississippi","caption":"BILOXI, MS - JANUARY 02: Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump speaks at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on January 2, 2016 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Trump, who has strong support from Southern voters, spoke to thousands in the small Mississippi","creditText":"Spencer Platt—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4182646/donald-trump-britain-united-kingdom-debate/","name":"British Lawmakers to Debate Call to Ban Donald Trump from U.K."}}]}] ```