Sadiq Khan the Big Loser from Trump’s UK Visit
United States President Donald Trump’s official visit to the UK was meant to be a humiliation for him. Britain’s far left had organised mass protests with the centrepiece being a giant inflatable Trump baby ballon which was meant to follow him around during his London visit. The balloon was granted permission to be flown by London’s Muslim Mayor Saqid Khan who justified his decision by stating “We have in our city and country a rich history of the right to protest, the right to free speech and the right to express our views”.
Many were quick to point out the irony of Khan talking about the right to free speech given that arrests for social media posts deemed hate speech have soared during the past decade with 857 people being detained in 2015 for “online crimes of speech” by London’s Metropolitan Police under the UK Communications Act.
The baby ballon was deemed to be such an important statement that the activist who created it Nona Hurkmans was able to crowdfund £50,000 to have it flown. Many highlighted that if those who donated really cared about the poor and social justice they could find a more productive use for their money. When it did materialise on the weekend however it hardly made a dent in the sky,
In response to Khan allowing such an immature leftist stunt with potential safety risks to be paraded around London conservative British activist Yanny Bruere decided he would try to create a Sadiq Khan baby balloon. Khan was asked if he would permit a baby balloon to be flown of himself he said as long as its “peaceful, safe and the police approve it”. The Khan ballon crowdfunded £41,000 though it did not make an appearance during Trump’s UK visit.
Trump’s supporters in the UK were eager to show their support and that he should not believe the fake news that he was hated by the nation. However, Saqid Khan struck again by banning a pro-Trump rally outside to the new US Embassy in London. The Metropolitan Police advised the organisers ‘Make Britain Great Again’ that they could only rally outside the old US Embassy which has now been vacated. Trump’s supporters ended up meeting at Whitehall under a heavy police presence.
Many were suspicious that Khan was allowing his personal dislike for Trump who has attacked his handling of terror and crime in the city of London to make Trump’s visit to the city appear as unwelcome and turbulent as possible.
Despite restrictions from the Metropolitan Police another free Tommy rally took place in London on Saturday to show that he had not been forgotten. Tommy Robinson’s supporters heard from UKIP leader Gerard Batten, former Breitbart London Chief Raheem Kassam, a video message from Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders and Australian social media personality and activist Avi Yemini who was there with Australian Liberty Alliance President Debbie Robinson.
While Trump was in the UK it was also revealed the US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback had raised with the UK Ambassador to the US Sir Kim Darroch Tommy Robinson’s imprisonment. He warned that if authorities did not treat Robinson more fairly, the Trump Administration would be compelled to criticise the UK’s handling of the case. Brownback has however publicly denied this characterization of their meeting.
The anti-Trump protestors in London assisted by Khan obviously had the intention of unnerving Trump hoping that he would lash out on Twitter or through another medium proving their point that Trump was a giant baby. But Trump wasn’t phased by the protestors whose bizarre choice of dress (or lack off) meant they were only embarrassing themselves. Trump knew that the majority of working Britons were behind him.
The only loser from Trump’s trip is Saqid Khan with his petty enabling of these protestors antics when he should be focusing on making the city he is responsible once again safe.