Sadiq Khan: world leaders must speak out against Donald Trump travel ban

The Mayor will urge global leaders to condemn the US President’s policy
Neil Hall/Reuters
Pippa Crerar31 January 2017

Sadiq Khan will today tell senior diplomats that the international community must show “moral leadership” by speaking out against Donald Trump’s travel ban.

The Mayor will urge global leaders to condemn the US President’s “cruel, prejudiced and counterproductive” policy as he hosts the largest ever gathering of ambassadors and dignitaries at City Hall.

More than 100 countries will be represented, expected to include five of the seven covered by the ban – Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Yemen and Libya – but not Somalia or Syria.

A senior diplomat from the US Embassy will also attend, although not the outgoing Ambassador Matthew Barzun.

Mr Khan also reiterated his call on Government not to “roll out the red carpet” for President Trump and rescind its offer of a full state visit while the controversial policy remains.

He was expected to say: “I’ve been clear that President Trump’s actions are unacceptable for a liberal, open democracy, like America, and we can’t be seen to be endorsing them in any way.

“As an international community, I believe we have a responsibility to show moral leadership and so my ask of you tonight is this: join me in speaking out against this ban and condemning it for what it really is – discriminatory, self-defeating and completely un-American.”

At the diplomatic reception tonight, the Mayor was set to add: “You don’t need me to tell you that there’s no contradiction between subscribing to Western values – of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and freedom of speech – and being a Muslim.

“Nor do you need me to tell you that targeting people for no reason other than their faith or their country of birth is cruel, prejudiced and counterproductive.”

Mr Khan is set to say that President Trump’s executive order would see the US “turn its back” on its obligations to refugees feeling persecution when major nations should be doing more.

He will add that it risks “playing straight into the hands” of terrorists and extremists whose goal was to divide and deceive people into believing that Islam was incompatible with Western values.

More than two thirds of London’s diplomatic community will be represented at the event, at which Mr Khan will tell them they continue to play a valuable role in the capital following the Brexit vote.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in