DAVID Mundell will be on the tarmac at Prestwick Airport when Donald Trump arrives in Scotland on Friday night, it’s been confirmed.
Following his brief visit to London to meet with the Queen and Theresa May, the US president will be having a private weekend visiting his Ayrshire golf course, before he heads out to Helsinki on Monday for a meeting with Vladimir Putin.
But that private weekend looks set to be shared with thousands of protesters, who have already started their demonstration in earnest.
Around a dozen activists from Stand Up to Racism Scotland turned up at the Trump Turnberry course on Wednesday.
A protest is planned for Glasgow’s George Square tomorrow, while a rally will be held outside the president’s Balmedie course in Aberdeenshire on Saturday, and it is expected there could be further demonstrations at Turnberry where Trump is expected to spend most of his weekend.
A national demonstration is planned at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Saturday, as well as a “Carnival of Resistance” in the Meadows area of the capital.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is not currently expected to meet Trump or his wife Melania.
In a joint statement, Scottish Labour’s Richard Leonard and the Scottish Green Party’s Patrick Harvie called for the Scottish Government to ban Trump from landing at Prestwick.
The two party leaders said: “Donald Trump is not welcome here. The horrific scenes at the Mexican border are a repudiation of decent human values. Caging children like animals is barbaric. We cannot roll out the red carpet for a US President that treats human beings this way.”
They added: “To this end we believe that all avenues must be used to ensure that Donald Trump does not receive a welcome here.
“For Donald Trump to travel to Scotland with public assistance and ease when his travel ban has caused outrage and despair around the world would simply not be acceptable.
“The Scottish Government owns Prestwick Airport. We believe that this publicly-owned facility should not be used for Donald Trump’s visit.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said that wasn’t possible: “Prestwick Airport is operated on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government, in compliance with EU state aid rules. Ministers do not intervene in any specific commercial matters at the airport.
“Scotland has deep and longstanding ties of family, friendship and business with the United States, which will continue to endure. At the same time, we will not compromise our fundamental values of equality, diversity, and human rights and we expect these values to be made clear during the Presidential visit to the UK. We would encourage those attending any protests to do so peacefully and safely.”
Yesterday, two US Airforce Boeing jets landed in Prestwick to drop off part of Trump’s motorcade.
At Westminster, SNP group leader Ian Blackford urged Cabinet Office minister David Lidington not to “roll out the red carpet” for Trump.
He said: “With protests planned across Scotland and the UK against President Trump’s abhorrent policies and dangerous rhetoric, will the minister follow the SNP’s lead and challenge President Trump on his abysmal record on human rights, his repugnant attitude towards women and his disgusting treatment of minorities?”
Lidington - filling in at prime minister’s questions while Theresa May attends the Nato summit - replied that it was right for the government to welcome the president.
He said: “This country’s relationship with the US is probably the closest between any two democracies in the west. It has lasted through Democrat and Republican presidents alike, and Labour and Conservative governments on this side of the Atlantic.
“Because of the security cooperation we have with the US, there are UK citizens who are alive today who might well not have been had that cooperation and information sharing not taken place. It is therefore right that we welcome the duly elected president of our closest ally, as we shall do tomorrow.
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