British parliament to debate petition on Donald Trump state visit

Trump (lef) stands with British Prime Minister Theresa May outside the White House in Washington, on Jan 27, 2017. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

LONDON (REUTERS) - British lawmakers will hold a debate on Feb 20 on a petition signed by more than 1.6 million people calling for a planned state visit by US President Donald Trump to be cancelled to avoid embarrassing Queen Elizabeth.

The debate was called by the Petitions Committee of the lower house of parliament.

On the same day, lawmakers will also debate a second petition calling for the state visit to go ahead, which has been signed by more than 100,000 people.

The British government responds to all petitions that gain more than 10,000 signatures and topics are considered for parliamentary debate if they reach 100,000.

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