By Carina M 

After more than 1.8 million people “called on the British government to cancel the state visit because it would prove embarrassing for the queen” via a petition, the British Parliament debated for three hours on February 20 about President Donald Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom.  Most conservatives lawmakers believed that President Trump should visit while liberals believed the opposite.

Ultimately, it was been decided that President Trump will visit the United Kingdom because the British Parliament wants to avoid creating an enemy. They believe that the United States is the “world’s greatest power” and they need to welcome him with open arms. Opposition in the debate was cutting, however. In a video broadcast of the debate, Paul Flynn, a lawmaker for the opposition Labour Party, expressed his belief that President Trump is a “petulant child” and the idea of a state visit “would be terribly wrong because it would appear that British Parliament, the British nation, the British sovereign, is approving of the acts of Donald Trump.”

Freshman Joe Yohana agrees with the decision of Parliament, “He should be able to go because no matter what he does, he’s still President and he should be treated fairly.” he said. Agreeing with Yohana, senior Jack Gulvas said, “I think they should let him come because they don’t want to create an enemy.” On the other hand, senior Kayla Guldan said, “I think that it would reduce tensions and eliminate trade conflicts if he visited but if he’s not respectable and mature enough, then he shouldn’t  be given a chance.

This is not the first time Britain has debated about President Trump. Last year, lawmakers debated whether they should ban Trump after he made remarks about Muslims in his political campaign and people signed a petition against him and his campaign. Any petition that gets more than 100,000 signatures has to be debated by the British Parliament.