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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

JumpingJellybeanz · 30/01/2017 16:54

I don't think the media are misreporting, I think they're just simplifying it. The petition call for a ban on on State visits. He's already been invited. Does anyone seriously think his ego would accept being shunted down like that? He'll throw his toys out of his pram and refuse come at all (bonus). Ergo successful petition = cancelled trip.

JumpingJellybeanz · 30/01/2017 16:57

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

There's approximately 5 million brits living outside the UK. We still have a voice.

Radiatorvalves · 30/01/2017 16:58

Signed, having understood the wording.

I am disgusted at the things that Trump has said and done, and while he may need to come to the UK, what he craves is the pomp and ceremony. He will want to take tea with the Queen and tweet about it later. His people have already said he doesn't want to meet Charles due to clashes on the environment. If he has a State visit, he can't dictate the terms.

And at the moment, any visit would have bigly protests...I can't see anyone being keen on that. I would prefer we had nothing to do with him. Ever. But being a realist, we may need to do business with him - but on our terms as best we can. No State element to the visit would royally piss him off.

notangelinajolie · 30/01/2017 17:05

The Brexit petition was hacked so I'm not taking much notice of this one either. The Government spent considerable time debating banning Trump the last time we had one of these petitions. Seriously, our Government has more important things to be getting on with right now.

morningtoncrescent62 · 30/01/2017 17:12

I can't speak for the other 1.37 million and counting signatories, but I read and understood the petition before I signed it. As far as I'm concerned, there are many more pressing reasons for preventing a state visit from the Orange One than the queen's embarrasment, but I'll sign up on that basis anyway, because I support the principle and accept that for others, this may be a big deal. The prospect of watching him being treated to full pomp and circumstance is appalling.

notangelinajolie · 30/01/2017 17:23

Agree with the OP about the news misreporting this petition. It is a badly worded petition. I've been watching telly all day, switching between BBC and Sky and they have both been consistently glossing over the bit about the Queen's embarrassment. To be fair to them, it's probably because no one could possibly presume to know if the Queen would be embarrassed or not since she doesn't make her personal opinions known.

WhereYouLeftIt · 30/01/2017 17:29

I'm not sure you're fully aware of what is meant by 'state visit'.

The petition is pretty clear:
"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."

No ambiguity there. Distinction clearly drawn between visit and state visit.

And cut&paste from the BBC website:
"More than 1.3 million people have signed a petition urging the government to call off President Donald Trump's state visit to the UK, amid a row over his recent immigration measures."

So - YABU, because the BBC are reporting accurately. As for Sky - that Murdoch's shitey channel, not exactly known for unbiased accuracy.

Obsidian77 · 30/01/2017 17:30

That the Queen might be embarrassed is the least of my concerns...

notangelinajolie · 30/01/2017 18:16

Obsidian77 Haha yes I agree, but it very important to the author of the petition

VeryBitchyRestingFace · 30/01/2017 18:19

I was very clear on what I was signing. The wording of the petition was idiot proof.

KathArtic · 30/01/2017 18:31

I have to laugh - a few months everyone was piling in to complain that those who voted for Brexit were uneducated and didn't know what they were voting for, and here's everyone saying, 'I've read up and know what I'm signing for'...perhaps those who voted for Brexit did know what they were voting for!

CockacidalManiac · 30/01/2017 18:33

Seriously, our Government has more important things to be getting on with right now.

Yes, those awful men like Erdogan and Trump won't fellate themseves, you know. That's HMGs job.

CockacidalManiac · 30/01/2017 18:36

I've read this three times, and I still don't understand the point.

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

Janey50 · 30/01/2017 18:37

Everyone that I have heard talking about it IRL and also a few callers on a radio station seem to believe that they are petitioning to get Trump barred totally from entering the UK! So I would say,no,a hell of a lot of people don't properly read what they are signing for.

barinatxe · 30/01/2017 18:43

Surely it should be up to the Queen to decide whether she will be embarrassed by meeting Trump? If she is happy to meet him, that's her choice. Let's face it, after shaking hands with Martin McGuinness, I think she can handle Trump!

On the subject of petitions, they are not scientific and I genuinely cannot believe that a million signatures means a million separate UK voters. The site in question is prone to abuse and it is very easy to register a fake email address and sign up multiple times.

notangelinajolie · 30/01/2017 18:45

There will always be poeple who don't know what they are voting for. But not MNetters, we know everything about everything.

KathArtic · 30/01/2017 19:01

Let's face it, after shaking hands with Martin McGuinness, I think she can handle Trump!

Excellent point, especially in light of what happened to Lord Mountbatten!

KathArtic · 30/01/2017 19:05

a million signatures

out of, lets say, 45 million adults in the UK.

Janey50 · 30/01/2017 19:15

I would say that surely it is up to the Queen to decide what she finds embarrassing?! She is well used to dealing with unsavoury characters and tyrants,so I don't think she will be fazed by Trump as long as he doesn't try to hold her hand. And,something I heard on LBC this afternoon re.signing the petition. A man phoned in to say he logged on to the petition site to sign, only to be informed he had already signed!

Sultanainasalad · 30/01/2017 19:21

About petitions like this in general, they don't have to be debated in the main parliament chamber, one tiny room that holds hardly any people will be enough for the government to shut it down, tick that box and carry on.

squishysquirmy · 30/01/2017 19:24

Anyone who is comparing signing a petition to voting in a referendum, is either underestimating the seriousness of a referendum vote, or misunderstanding what a petition is.
Also, it is not really up to the queen to decide who she meets. Never has been in practice.

CockacidalManiac · 30/01/2017 19:26

Yeah. KathArtic and those like her. Let's be complacent, what's the worst that could happen? Complacency is so cool.

KathArtic · 30/01/2017 19:29

CockacidalManiac I'm entitled to give my opinion as much as you, on this thread and others.

CockacidalManiac · 30/01/2017 19:31

CockacidalManiac I'm entitled to give my opinion as much as you, on this thread and others.

Nobody is saying otherwise. You're entitled to be challenged on it too; that's how free speech works.

notangelinajolie · 30/01/2017 19:32

There is now a new petition.

Donald Trump should make a State Visit to the United Kingdom.

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