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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think some people aren't fully aware of what they are petitioning for?

128 replies

Crunchymum · 30/01/2017 15:00

Yes another Trump thread!!

I have seen Sky and BBC news both reporting that "More than a million people have signed a petition urging the government to call off President Donald Trump's state visit to the UK" - this quote is directly from BBC website

Yet that is not what the petition is for? or am I missing something?

AIBU to think some people are signing up because they want his visit scrapped completely? Which is incorrect

The petition is actually for:

Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen

OP posts:
shovetheholly · 30/01/2017 15:53

badtime - point taken, but I think it would have been possible to call Trump on racism and corruption back in November. Grin My objection is to the snobbishness and ridiculous 'offending her Majesty' nonsense.

Dawndonnaagain · 30/01/2017 15:55

I read things before I sign them. I'm fully aware of what I signed.

MakingMerry · 30/01/2017 15:58

No, people were annoyed by the suggestion that they as individuals didn't know what they were signing shovetheholly which the OP seems to have accepted was poor wording on their part.

It's only one sentence: Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.

It's not hard to understand.

Original poster
Crunchymum · 30/01/2017 16:01

Thread title has been amended people!

(thanks MNHQ - very efficient Grin)

OP posts:
squishysquirmy · 30/01/2017 16:01

A petition is not a vote in a referendum. It's not a way to make the government do anything. It is a protest - a way to demonstrate that a large number of people feel strongly about something. The petition was not perfectly worded, but I signed it anyway - there was more point in signing an already popular petition than there was in signing a perfectly worded one that had hardly any signatures.

squishysquirmy · 30/01/2017 16:03

Not so easy to get the wording perfect, is it Crunchymum? Wink

shovetheholly · 30/01/2017 16:03

The OP suggests that people have misinterpreted the petition as banning ALL visits from Trump.

I put something about it up on my Facebook a couple of hours ago, and several people admitted they'd signed without reading it at all. The law of averages would suggest that with 1.3 million signatories, a proportion of them didn't read a word and just pressed 'sign', and that another proportion may well have read it but failed to understand that it doesn't call for the banning of all visits. Grin

Original poster
Crunchymum · 30/01/2017 16:05

Not so easy to get the wording perfect, is it Crunchymum?

Indeed, glad I didn't start an actual petition with my poor wording!!

OP posts:
Rainmaker1 · 30/01/2017 16:05

He's more than welcome for a state visit as far as I'm concerned!

Elendon · 30/01/2017 16:05

The petition means that the government has to discuss this in Parliament. Trump deserves no State Visit status is all that is requested when he visits.

Simple to understand. Can't think why you think it isn't OP.

PerspicaciaTick · 30/01/2017 16:07

I like the wording. I like the snobbishness. I imagine it annoys Trump far more than shouting and abuse would. Imagine - you sell your soul to get to the top only to find that you still aren't good enough to share a tupperware of cornflakes with Brenda.

Elendon · 30/01/2017 16:08

Well, at least there'll be one person out waving to him! Rainmaker Let's hope it's lashing down Wink

Ilovetorrentialrain · 30/01/2017 16:11

Hi OP, I think it's clear that the petition is agains the visit being a State one - not that he should not be visiting at all.

Elendon · 30/01/2017 16:12

I could watch that petition all day. Mesmerising.

keeplooking · 30/01/2017 16:13

I imagine that 99% of the people who are engaged enough to sign an anti-Trump petition are also going to read and understand the wording. I was disappointed with the wording, but wanted to register my protest anyway.

Exisbribingme · 30/01/2017 16:15

Also a fairly large proportion of signatories are from outside the UK

Elendon · 30/01/2017 16:17

Care to elaborate on that Exisbribingme?

Or is that just an alternative fact you're throwing out there?

PerspicaciaTick · 30/01/2017 16:19

Um, only British citizens and UK residents can create or sign the petition...or any petition on the parliament website.

ilovesooty · 30/01/2017 16:21

I read it and knew what I was signing as well.

Exisbribingme · 30/01/2017 16:22

You can see on here where people are voting from

To think some people aren't fully aware of what they are petitioning for?
olliegarchy99 · 30/01/2017 16:23

Ever heard of bots ?
Postcodes can be shared and email addresses created ad infinitum
this happened in the second eu referendum petition.Shock

VestalVirgin · 30/01/2017 16:29

Up until this year, my 57th, I've generally felt that the world was getting better: dentists not hurting, cures for some cancers. But now...

Society has been getting worse for quite some time now. It is only science that gets more advanced, sadly.
(And if science collides with government, it tends to lose, too.)

I don't think it is possible to ban Trump from entering the UK at all. But one can refuse to acknowledge him as head of state, and since the government won't do that, one can at least refuse to let him meet the royal family.

HelenaGWells · 30/01/2017 16:29

I know exactly what I signed for, as per the writing of the petition. He can visit, but should not be accorded the status of a formal state visit.

Exactly. I understand that discussions about trade etc need to happen but I feel that due to the comments he has made about our royal family they should not be forced to endure hosting him on an official state visit. To me they are two different things. Due to brexit we need him (unfortunately) to broker trade deals between our two countries but there is no need for the royal family to be part of that.

PerspicaciaTick · 30/01/2017 16:33

Looking at the data 1.3 million have voted within the UK. I assume that a significant proportion of the 50,000 others are UK citizens living abroad.

I think "a fairly large proportion" is bare-faced exaggeration.

shouldwestayorshouldwego · 30/01/2017 16:51

Besides if there is no visit at all think of all the slow claps and turning backs to him that we would all miss out on.

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