July 10, 2018

Protests against Trump’s U.K. visit must focus on the crux of his trip

located:	United Kingdom
editor:	Shira Jeczmien

“The resources that had been asked for were on the scale required if London was burning down” said a Chief Constable in response to the U.K.’s preparation for Trump’s visit this Friday afternoon, July 13. And that is no exaggeration. The visit, which was cancelled due to governmental and civilian uproar this time last year, is now in full swing as May’s cabinet prepares to entertain Trump on a two-day trip with an agenda that has been carefully woven to avoid the mass protesting set to take place across the capital. As a result to the resistance, some 8,000 officers, deployed within about 300 police support units comprising of one inspector, three sergeants and 18 to 20 constables have been put into motion. The largest police force since the 2011 riots.

To tag this reaction to a visit of a democratically elected leader of a British alley as a bad reaction to Trump ‘the man’, might be overlooking crucial aspects of what this visit truly represents. From an inflated giant balloon of Trump depicted as an angry orange baby, to debates taking place across the media and the country, one might ask, what exactly is the British nation protesting?

There are some obvious reasons to drop everything you’re doing and join the march on Friday 13, such as the most recent U.S. immigration atrocity, where more than 3,000 migrant children were separated from their parents at the Mexican border. Other callings to tie your shoes and paint a picket sign include: Trump’s attack on climate change, pulling out of the Paris accord, his nepotistic approach to politics, his alleged ties with Russia, his unpresidential demeanour, aggressive hate speech and – unfortunately – much, much more.

But despite the mounting reasons to personally resist Trump as he takes his first steps onto the red carpet that presumably awaits him as he exits Air Force 1 in Stansted airport, the protests – if they wish to resonate higher into May’s cabinet – must address the divisive politics advocated by Trump and how the special relationship between the longstanding allies can move forward. The visit comes just days after a number of resignations from May's cabinet, which followed the PM's strong stance on a ‘soft Brexit’. Among them were tough Brexit hardliners Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis. The U.K.-EU free trade area which was planned out at May’s Chequers country residence on July 6, only nine months before the expected end to the complex Brexit negotiations, could complicate any trade ties with the U.S.. 

How May’s government manages the balancing act between a supposedly (and important) strong partnership with the U.S. and thus with its current leader is what should leave us all on the edge of our seats during this visit; it is precisely what the protests should focus on. In his outrageous rhetoric, Trump no longer surprises. It is May's Britain currently playing the role of unpredictability as the divorcing partner of the EU who wants to emancipate its obligations from the U.S. but does not know how.

Protesting Trump alone is the easy and obvious target. This Friday, as the country prepares for one of the biggest protests in recent years, it should be calling for a future in which the U.K. plays a different role to the uncertain and vulnerable one it has so far. What Trump says is important, but what the U.K. does in response is crucial.

IMAGE VIA