Lancaster crowds say no to racism and no to Trump

Sam Ud-din and Eugene Doherty at the anti-Trump protest in Lancaster.

This comes after more than 1.7 m people signed a petition urging the Government and Prime Minister Theresa May to call off Trump’s state visit to the UK.

Two hundred protestors met in Dalton Square on Tuesday night – chanting “hey ho Trump and May have got to go.”

Crowds held anti-Trump signs and sang in support of refugees and others among the community. Drivers beeped their support for the group as they travelled home through the city’s rush hour traffic.

Morgan Hanley and Victoria Skorgevik with their signs at the anti-Trump protest in Lancaster.

“I think it reflected the mood in society today,” said Eugene Doherty, one of the organisers of the demonstration.

“There is a real deep worry about what Donald Trump is doing and also that Theresa May is going out there and inviting him over for a state visit which we have to pay for.

“We want to defend people of different faiths, colours and creeds.”

The gathering, organised by the Stand Up To Racism Lancaster and Morecambe group, also protested against Donald Trump’s ‘travel’ ban.

President Trump has come under fire for signing an executive order – on Holocaust Memorial Day – banning citizens from Syria, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Libya from the US for 90 days.

Mr Trump claims the order is not a “Muslim ban.”

Lancaster protestors said the ban was about religion, with some comparing it to connotations of the assassination of Jews during Nazi Germany in World War Two.

“He is an orange Hitler,” said Morgan Hanley.

Rachel Evans, 24, from Lancaster, with her sign at the anti-Trump protest in Lancaster.

Fay Collins said: “We don’t want to be in bed with Trump.

“This is not reality TV, it affects everybody.”

Audrey Glover, a member of Stand Up to Racism, said: “We stand here in solidarity. I just think Trump is vile, just like Nigel Farage, he pretends he is not part of the establishment, when he is a millionaire.”

Mike Bryson said: “We are not normally demo people but I just thought this guy is beyond the pale. Our grandfathers and great grandfathers fought against this sort of thing, that is to be respected.”

The petition to stop Trump entering the UK on a state visit has been signed by 2,735 people in the Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency and 1,627 people in Morecambe and Lunesdale.

A counter petition has been created in favour of Trump visiting the UK on a state visit which currently has 217, 330 signatures.