THE Home Secretary is coming under increasing pressure to ban Donald Trump from entering the UK, following Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol.
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s Justice Secretary, warned that the President’s presence in the country would not be “conducive to the public good”.
He’s now written to Priti Patel, his Westminster counterpart, urging her to use her powers to exclude the defeated tycoon.
There’s been speculation in recent days that Trump will be visiting his loss-making Ayrshire golf course in a bid to avoid Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Reports last weekend suggested Prestwick has been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft, that is occasionally used by Trump, on January 19.
The White House have denied the report, but they’ve yet to say where Trump will be when Biden is sworn in as the next president.
The bitter businessman doesn’t accept that Biden’s victory is legitimate. For weeks now, he’s claimed – without any proof – that he’s the victim of fraud.
READ MORE: David Pratt: After insurrection in the Capitol, what next for Donald Trump?
While those allegations have been rejected by officials and the courts they have undoubtedly riled up his supporters. Yesterday morning, Patel said it was clear Trump’s incendiary remarks directly encouraged the mob’s attack on the Capitol.
“His comments directly led to the violence and so far he has failed to condemn that violence – and that is completely wrong,” she said.
“He basically has made a number of comments yesterday that helped to fuel that violence and he didn’t do anything to de-escalate that whatsoever,” she told the BBC.
Asked whether the Tories were too close to Trump, she said it was time to look ahead to Joe Biden’s presidency.
“The fact of the matter is, they are now transitioning to a new president, to a president-elect.
“The Prime Minister has already been in touch with Joe Biden and certainly congratulated him. I think on that basis alone we move forward with one of our greatest allies in the world,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme. “This isn’t about going back and reflecting on personal relationships.”
Yousaf told The National he thought Patel needed to go further: “I believe the Home Secretary must give serious consideration to denying Mr Trump entry to the UK if he tries to travel here after leaving office in less than two weeks’ time.
“The UK Government has that power if an applicant’s presence is not conducive to the public good.”
Yousaf added: “Clearly the dreadful scenes and the tragic loss of life surrounding the confirmation of the US Presidential election result yesterday should be condemned and provide a glimpse of the kind of violent disorder we would all want to avoid in any circumstances.
“I will be writing to the Home Secretary asking her to give serious consideration to this matter.
“Quite separately of course, and as the First Minister has pointed out, the law in Scotland currently makes clear that no-one should be travelling into or out of the country unless they have an essential purpose for doing so. This is a critical requirement for all of us in Scotland and across the UK as we work collectively to tackle the threat of coronavirus to public health, life, and our NHS.”
The Home Office did not respond to requests for a comment.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: We saw Donald Trump inciting insurrection in Washington last night
Though there are tough new coronavirus restrictions in place, it’s not currently against the law for travellers to come to Scotland.
If Trump was to arrive, he would just need to quarantine for 10 days.
The bar for stopping someone from coming in to the UK because they are “not conducive to the public good” is relatively low.
In 2015, the then Home Secretary, Theresa May stopped rapper Tyler, the Creator entering because of his offensive lyrics. They were deemed to encourage “violence and intolerance of homosexuality” and foster “hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts.”
A Home Office spokesperson said at the time: “Coming to the UK is a privilege, and we expect those who come here to respect our shared values. The Home Secretary has the power to exclude an individual if she considers that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good or if their exclusion is justified on public policy grounds.”
The ban has since been lifted and the rapper thanked May when he won Best International Male Solo Artist at this year’s Brit Awards.
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