Boris Johnson: Trump's travel ban is divisive – but we must uphold the special relationship

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson attacked Donald Trump's "divisive and wrong" travel ban, as he faced a grilling from MPs on Monday evening (30 January).

The senior Conservative issued the statement to the House of Commons amid confusion over the US president's executive, which blocked those from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia from travelling to America for 90 days.

"This is not UK policy, this is not our policy, nor is it a measure that this government would consider. I've already made clear our anxiety about measures that discriminate on grounds of nationality in ways that are divisive and wrong," Johnson said.

The Foreign Secretary said he contacted the US administration on Sunday to raise concerns about how the initiative would impact upon British citizens, such as Somali-born Sir Mo Farah.

"The general principle is that all British passport holders remain welcome to travel to the US," he said.

"We have received assurances from the US Embassy [in London] that this executive order will make no difference to any British passport holder irrespective of their country of birth or whether they hold another passport."

Johnson ended his statement by defending the so called "special relationship" between the UK and praising Theresa May for her "high successful" visit to the White House.

"Where we have differences with the United States, we will not hesitate from expressing them, as I have done today," he said.

"But we will also repeat our resolve to work alongside the Trump administration in the mutual interest of both of our countries."

But Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry painted the government's response to the travel ban as weak. "We need a prime minister who's prepared to tell him to stop, not one who simply [offers] her hand and simply helps him along," she said.

The remarks come after Downing Street refused to revoke a state visit invitation to Trump. More than one million people have signed an online petition in a bid to stop the Republican meeting The Queen in June.

Thousands of people turned up to protest outside Downing Street on Monday night. Those attending included author Owen Jones, Green MP Caroline Lucas and singer Lily Allen.