Donald Trump: UK politicians to debate 560,000-strong petition to ban controversial tycoon

UK politicians will debate whether or not to ban presidential hopeful Donald Trump from the UK after a petition calling for the controversial tycoon to be banned from Britain reached 560,000 signatures.

The debate will be held on Monday 18 January, according to the UK governement.

The Prime Minister has distanced himself from the Apprentice star and hotel mogul, particularly over Trump's remarks that areas of London were no-go areas for police because of the threat of radical Islam.

Trump claimed at the time Britain was "trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem" and accused his critics of "pandering to political correctness".

The Government has declared that if the Republican presidential candidate is deemed by ministers to be "non-conducive to the public good", he could be banned from entering the UK.

A Home Office statement said: "For good reasons the Government does not routinely comment on individual immigration and exclusion decisions. The Home Secretary may exclude a non-European Economic Area national from the UK if she considers their presence in the UK to be non-conducive to the public good.

"The Home Secretary has said that coming to the UK is a privilege and not a right and she will continue to use the powers available to prevent from entering the UK those who seek to harm our society and who do not share our basic values."

Trump, who currently leads national polls in the US for the Republican presidential nomination, recently called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States.

NOTE:
This article was updated to include confirmation of the debate being scheduled for 18 January.