More than 170,000 people have signed up to a protest that coincides with Donald Trump’s visit to the UK on Friday July 13th.
The event – being organised by Owen Jones and the Stop Trump Coalition – is expected to be held in London on the day of the US President’s visit with organisers anticipating other protests across the country at the same time.
43,000 people have confirmed attendance with a further 127,000 people expressing an interest in the Facebook event.
Plans for a Trump visit have been underway since Theresa May first invited the President to the UK when he was sworn in. It is expected his arrival in the UK will fall short of a full state visit, but it is believed he will still meet the Queen.
Last month the US ambassador Woody Johnson confirmed Trump would ‘definitely be coming to London’ and added: ‘He’s very thick-skinned. He knows what he wants to do and he speaks in a very clear and unusual way from most politicians.’
The Stop Trump Coalition is co-organising the London protest, which has already received a groundswell of support from musicians, activists and comedians including Lily Allen and Ed Miliband.
The group claims: ‘We oppose this state visit to the UK and commit ourselves to one of the biggest demonstrations in British history, to make very clear to our government, and to the world, that this is not in our name.’
Last week London mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: ‘If he comes to London, President Trump will experience an open and diverse city that has always chosen unity over division and hope over fear. He will also no doubt see that Londoners hold their liberal values of freedom of speech very dear.’
The ‘Stop Trump’ event listing on Facebook can be found here.