SCOTTISH Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie has called on Ruth Davidson to "immediately distance herself" from calls for Donald Trump to visit Scotland.

US President Donald Trump will visit the UK in July – on Friday the 13th – but the trip is expected to be a "working visit" rather than a full-blown state occasion.

In a letter to the US President, six conservative groups recommend he should instead focus his visit on his "ancestral home" of Scotland, over fear of protests in London.

Harvie said that any visit to Scotland should be met with demonstations of a scale "not seen since the Iraq War".

The Greens MSP said: “If this group of Tories think coming to Scotland will avoid the level of opposition Trump would receive in London, they frankly misunderstand Scotland’s long history of opposing racism, sexism and bigotry.

"The Scottish Greens, joined by many others, will ensure that any Trump visit here is met with a level of protest not seen since the Iraq war. We will send a clear message that his pathetic brand of hatred is not welcome here.

“It’s no surprise to see the 'Freedom Association', which was a prominent opponent of the anti-apartheid movement, offer its support to a President who has put white supremacists closer to power than they have been for decades.

"This letter is sycophantic and grovelling, and its claim from prominent Conservative groups that many within the party ‘support’ Trump’s leadership and ‘admire’ and ‘respect’ a man who has boasted about sexually assaulting women should be a major embarrassment to the Tories in Scotland.

"Ruth Davidson should immediately distance herself and her party from these apologists for the dangerous extremism of the Trump presidency.

“Meanwhile Greens and many others will prepare to take to the streets to protest the visit of this odious man.”

The letter to Trump was signed by the heads of conservative thinktanks the Bow Group, Bruges Group, Parliament Street and the Freedom Association, as well as the chairman of Republicans Overseas Scotland and a contributor to ThinkScotland.

They told the president the political and media establishment in London was "far out of touch" with the feelings of ordinary people outside the capital, many of whom "strongly support" his leadership.

"Your ancestral homeland of Scotland represents a powerful bond between you and Britain, and given the nature of the climate in London, it is a superior destination," they said.

"As you know, the Royal Estate of Balmoral Castle sits in Scotland's Cairgorms National Park, thus allowing you to make a full state visit as the guest of the Her Majesty the Queen.

"Scotland and the North of England also offer a variety of locations where you would be able to speak directly to ordinary British people and witness the true level of support that exists for you and the special relationship between the US and the UK."

Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the Bow Group, said: "A visit to London by the president is likely to draw major protests, crime and disorder, and we do not wish to see Britain or President Trump embarrassed by this.

"It is important that the people of the United States and its government know there are many in Britain who strongly support the president and the special relationship, and wish for President Trump to be afforded the warmest of welcomes.

"Sadly that will not be the case in London."

Trump, whose mother was born on the Isle of Lewis, last came to Scotland during the presidential campaign in June 2016, visiting his golf resorts.