As the Trump visa ban row rumbles on, No 10 is under pressure to cancel President Trump’s state visit after nearly a million UK citizens signed a protest on the issue. The Prime Minister’s spokesman has dismissed the suggestion today — but re-confirmed that the government does not agree with Trump’s policy, which sees citizens from seven countries temporarily banned from entering the US.
However, the most striking aspect of today’s lobby briefing came when No 10 appeared to throw the Foreign Secretary a hospital pass. Setting Boris Johnson up for a difficult afternoon, the Prime Minister’s spokesman suggested that the decision to invite Trump to the UK for a state visit was first taken by the state visit committee that operates in the Foreign Office.
‘Each year the government looks at the recommendations that are made by the committee for state visits, those recommendations are then put to Buckingham Palace, the palace then needs to agree to the visit, then, historically the invitation is extended on behalf of Her Majesty by the government, and that is the process that took place this time.’
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