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Trump petition: Glasgow North seat leads protest as 1 in 20 people add their names

Glasgow North MP Patrick Grady says many constituents have contacted him with their concerns about President Trump's visit.

People in the West End of Glasgow are among the most ardent opponents of Donald Trump - if the petition to stop his state visit to the UK is anything to go by.

The Glasgow North constituency has one of the highest rates of signatures anywhere in Scotland and is among the top seats in the UK where voters are protesting against Trump's visit.

As of midday Monday, more than 3,320 people in the constituency had signed the UK Parliament petition calling for the trip to be halted.

That equates to more than 4.6% of the electorate - and only Edinburgh North and Leith was recording a higher rate of sign-up across Scotland.

As of midday, more than 1,160,000 people across the UK had signed the petition - with that figure looking likely to rise dramatically over the course of the day.

Global outcry has followed the newly-installed US president's clampdown on immigration into the US at the weekend.

Hundreds of nationals of seven Muslim countries were either detained at US airports or had to make alternative arrangements to transit to other destinations.

Hamaseh Tayari, a vet from Glasgow, was among those caught up by Trump's executive directive.

She had been due to fly home to Scotland from a holiday in Costa Rica via New York.

But she was told she could not fly to the USA because of the order. A social media campaign has since raised the money she needs.

Patrick Grady, SNP MP for Glasgow North, told Glasgow West End Today: "The petition calling for the UK Government to withdraw the State Visit invitation to Donald Trump now has over one million signatures.

"It will almost certainly trigger a formal debate in the House of Commons in a few weeks' time - although I suspect the issue will be raised by MPs much sooner than that.

"Over 3,000 people in Glasgow North have signed the petition, and many have contacted me directly as well to express their serious concern about the visa restrictions introduced by the new US Administration.

"Many people in Glasgow are particularly outraged at the treatment of Hamaseh Tayrai, who is a postgraduate student at Glasgow University, and was denied transit back to our city through a US airport simply because she was travelling on an Iranian passport.

"The First Minister has said she doesn't think a State Visit by Mr Trump is appropriate while these visa restrictions remain in place.

"I'll certainly be making sure the views of the thousands of my constituents who have signed the petition are heard in Parliament".

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