The protests against Trump's state visit are crude and illogical

This week has seen no shortage of grim events: a mass execution in Saudi Arabia; campaigners in Hong Kong imprisoned for organising the 2014 ‘umbrella’ protests; and the horrifying terrorist attacks on Christians in Sri Lanka. Yet the news item that has provoked the greatest outrage in the UK was the announcement of a state visit by the president of our major ally.

Eighty MPs have tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) which “calls on the Prime Minister and the Government to rescind the advice to offer a full state visit to President Trump”. Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, declares that the visit “beggars belief”. The demos are already being planned. John Bercow, the attention-seeking Commons Speaker wants to prevent an address by the President to both houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall.

The EDM accuses Trump of “misogyny, racism and xenophobia”. Certainly, the president has made some crass and embarrassing pronouncements over the years. But this overall verdict from MPs strikes me as false on all counts. It extrapolates a few ill-considered utterances by Trump to reach a judgement – while disregarding evidence to the contrary. This shows a crudeness by the president’s critics – the very fault which the president is so often criticised for.

The criteria for a state visit is not that the recipient of such an honour should be some kind of saint. In any case, compared to some of the gangsters that have pitched up at Buckingham Palace over the years, Trump is a saintly figure. The Queen has hosted over a hundred state visits since acceding to the throne in 1952. When foreign leaders come to London she doesn’t choose which ones stay with her. She accepts the advice of the Government of the day – and accepting such advice is part of her constitutional duty.

When President Xi Jinping of China came on a state visit in October 2015, Jeremy Corbyn, as the newly-elected Labour leader, turned up at the Palace for a “cordial and constructive” meeting. Corbyn even returned later for the state banquet wearing white tie and tails. Yet Corbyn now tweets that Trump “should not be welcomed to Britain while he abuses our shared values”.

Does Corbyn feel “shared values” with Xi Jinping? China remains a one-party dictatorship. Religious and ethnic minorities are persecuted – Christian churches in Zhejiang province and Buddhist temples in Tibet have been destroyed. Independent trade unions are banned, the media is censored and thousands are imprisoned for their political beliefs. Where was Emily Thornberry’s complaint that the visit from China’s president “beggared belief”?

There is no question that Trump has made some indefensible anti-Muslim comments. But compare and contrast the treatment of Muslims in the US to the persecution of China’s Uighur Muslims.

Critics of the US president have complained that Trump has been too soft on Putin. They make a good case. But where is the logic in cancelling Trump’s state visit when Putin was granted the same honour in 2003?

In 1978 Nicolae Ceaușescu, the brutal Communist dictator of Romania made a state visit. The Queen hid the silver. In 1985 it was the turn of Hastings Banda, the president of Malawi – noted for his habit of having cabinet colleagues murdered if he took a dislike to them.

Yet, after all this, the Corbynistas have become miraculously felicitous of Her Majesty’s feelings. They are busy claiming that a state visit would be terribly unfair on her – having this brash, vulgar American staying at Buckingham Palace for a couple of nights.

Our nation has built up extraordinary diplomatic power over the centuries. If we eventually escape the clutches of EU membership and make our way in the wider world our diplomatic power will be of growing importance. The ‘special relationship’ between the US and the UK cannot be taken for granted – as with a marriage you have to keep working at it. From promoting trade to defeating terrorism there is much work for both countries to do.

Rather than engage in student union agitprop it would be sensible for MPs to give Trump a respectful hearing, even if they disagree with him. He is the democratically-elected leader of the free world. In so many ways the interests of the UK and US are aligned. It is in our national interest for the visit to take place and for it to be a success.