Donald Trump debate: Could UK really ban him?

Donald Trump is in the spotlight in Britain's parliament Monday, when lawmakers will debate whether the Republican presidential front-runner should be barred from entering the country following his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.



For Donald Trump, in politics as in life, it seems the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

But Monday, the Republican presidential candidate will enter unfamiliar territory, even by his larger-than-life standards, when members of the British Parliament hold a debate over a petition calling for the U.S. businessman-turned-politician to be banned from the country.

The debate, which will be held in the UK Parliament's Westminster Hall at 4.30 p.m. local time (11.30 a.m. ET), is a result of a petition that Scottish freelance journalist and activist Suzanne Kelly launched last month to block the former reality TV star from British shores.

The petition, which calls for the 69-year-old to be barred because of his "hate speech" after his calls for a travel ban on Muslims entering the United States, has received more than 574,000 signatures.

UK lawmakers to debate banning Donald Trump 03:06

Any petition that gets more than 100,000 signatures is considered by Parliament's Petitions Committee, which weighs whether to send the petition for debate by lawmakers in Parliament.

The unconventional debate is unlikely to result in any such action, however. No vote will be held at the end of the debate, and politicians are expected to treat it more as an opportunity to air their views on the divisive Republican under the protection of parliamentary privilege, which legally shields them from accusations of defamation or slander.

Members of Parliament will also debate a counter-petition that calls for Trump not to be banned from the country.

"Leave the decision making on appropriate responses to the Americans. (Let's) mind our own business," reads the petition, launched by David Gladwin, which has received more than 40,000 signatures.

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