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DONALD TRUMP could be making his state visit to Britain “around June,” London police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe let slip yesterday.
The timing of the US president’s much protested arrival was revealed in an interview with LBC radio yesterday morning.
Mr Hogan-Howe told presenter Nick Ferrari: “First of all, I think President Trump is coming around June, that’s the plan.”
He also admitted that the visit would cost “quite a bit of money.” LBC suggested as much as £10 million. This was calculated by using the £7.5m figure for policing the G20 protests in 2009, with inflation.
He added: “At the moment, people are concerned there will be lots of protests. There have been protests already. We’ve had about 20,000 people about 10 days ago at Whitehall — all very peaceful.”
Activists have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest Mr Trump’s “Muslim Ban” and his invite to Britain by Prime Minister Theresa May. In one demo last Saturday, at least 40,000 people marched from the US embassy to Downing Street.
Gateshead Council, in the north-east of England, also voted last weekend to withold any “council resources” from being used to support Mr Trump’s visit on the basis of his “extreme, discriminatory actions.” It urged other local authorities to join its refusal to contribute to costs.
An alliance including Stop the War Coalition, the People’s Assembly, Stand Up to Racism, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Muslim Council of Britain and a growing number of trade unions has been formed to co-ordinate further action.
Demonstrations are set to take place on Monday February 20 to coincide with a parliamentary debate after a petition opposing Mr Trump’s state visit was signed by more than 1.8 million people.
Spokesperson for the group John Rees said: “The government should have listened to the 1.8 million that have signed a petition opposing his state visit, they should have listened to the thousands demonstrating against Trump.”
A spokesperson for 10 Downing Street said: “No date has been set yet for the state visit.”
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