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Over 300k sign petition to ban Trump from UK

Hundreds of thousands of Britons have signed a petition calling for Donald Trump to be banned from the UK after he suggested parts of London are no-go areas for police.

Mr Trump had called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on” following a shooting last week that left 14 people dead in California.

The Republican presidential hopeful pointed to London as an example of why the US should stop Muslims entering, saying there were parts of the city which were “so radicalised the police are afraid for their lives”.

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And a petition to bar Mr Trump from Britain has reached more than 300,000 signature and will be considered for a debate in parliament – as are all petitions with more than 100,000 signatures.

“The UK has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech. The same principles should apply to everyone who wishes to enter the UK,” the petition said.

London mayor Boris Johnson called Mr Trump’s comments “complete and utter nonsense”.

“I think he’s betraying a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him frankly unfit to hold the office of president of the United States,” he added.

“Crime has been falling steadily both in London and in New York – the only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.”

The Scottish government has sacked Mr Trump as a business ambassador and a university revoked his honorary degree.

Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen announced it would revoke an honorary doctorate of business administration it awarded to Trump in 2010 because of statements “that are wholly incompatible with the ethos and values of the university”.

UK chancellor George Osborne told parliament that Mr Trump’s comments were “nonsense” but added that debate was “the best way to deal with Donald Trump and his views rather than trying to ban presidential candidates”.

Web users mocked the blustering tycoon with the ironic hashtag #trumpfacts.

One tweet carried an image of Queen Elizabeth II wearing a headscarf with the inscription: “Even the British monarch is now forced to wear a hijab”.

Netanyahu urged to block Israel visit

Israeli politicians are calling on prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to block a visit to Israel by Mr Trump in the wake of his comments.

At least 37 mainly Israeli opposition MPs signed a letter to Mr Netanyahu calling on him to cancel a planned meeting with Mr Trump, unless the candidate withdraws his comments about Muslims.

Barack Obama

Mr Obama took a veiled swipe at Mr Trump. Photo: Getty

The meeting was set two weeks ago, before Mr Trump made the controversial remarks.

Sources close to the right-wing Mr Netanyahu were quoted as saying that “he does not agree with everything said by every US election candidate”.

“The prime minister rejects the recent comments by Donald Trump with regard to Muslims,” a statement from Mr Netanyahu’s office said.

“Israel respects all religions and diligently guards the rights of all its citizens.”

The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that Mr Trump’s staff were looking into the logistics of visiting the Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem’s Old City — a highly sensitive holy site to both Muslims and Jews and the source of much conflict between Israel and the Arab world.

At a ceremony to mark the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, United States president Barack Obama took a thinly veiled swipe at Mr Trump.

Mr Obama told an audience including congressional leaders that ending slavery was not about civil rights, but the kind of country America wanted to be.

“Remember that our freedom is bound up with the freedom of others, regardless of what they look like, or where they come from, or what their last name is or what faith they practice.”

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