Watching the UK Government cosy up to Trump is especially enraging when you're a British Muslim

As Theresa May was pressed on whether she would challenge the comments made by Trump on women and minorities during her forthcoming meeting with him, she claimed the talks would focus on more 'pressing global issues', while Michael Gove merely asked if we'd be 'at the front of the queue' for trade in his interview

Picture: (Getty/edited by indy100)

No amount of wishful thinking, outrage, marches or demands for recounts could overturn the result of the American election, even if nearly 3 million more people did vote for Hilary Clinton. But, inevitable though it was that Trump would eventually take office after the results three months ago, there need not be anything inevitable about how our own Government should respond to him.

Sitting thousands of miles away in the UK, I watched with a sense of powerlessness as the man who wished to ban members of my own faith from entering the United States took office. And alarmingly, I’ve now witnessed politicians in the UK fall over themselves to put whatever hateful views Trump had behind them and carry on as though they would with any other incumbent of the White House.

It shouldn’t and can’t be business as usual. There is no precedent for the man our politicians hope to continue a “special relationship” with, even if it is unrequited and Trump wishes to put only “America first”. For those hoping that assuming office would somehow magically alter Trump’s mindset, his inauguration speech was further proof that he in no way intends to heal divisions or embrace a vision of tolerance and inclusiveness.

If the government and MP’s think that they can preach about the importance of tolerance, liberalism and the importance of social cohesion at home while conveniently ignoring Trump’s record, they are deluding themselves. The two cannot be separated, however much we are told that we must respect the American president out of necessity, even if that necessity is given added impetus over the need for a trade deal following Brexit.

Maybe Theresa May should heed her own warnings with the European Union that “no deal is better than a bad deal” when dealing with Trump.

To me, watching people like Boris Johnson respond positively to Trump means that my own Government is not only happy to do business with a man that called for members of my faith to have their places of worship put under surveillance and to establish national registers for them, but is also more than happy to brush aside such issues for the sake of other competing priorities. Yet I'm expected to follow the advice of the same Government when it comes to integration and social cohesion at home.

As a Muslim, for years I’ve seen my own community held responsible for terrorist acts and told to apologise, integrate and “change from within”. To be told that Muslim communities must do more to integrate and subscribe to British values of tolerance and mutual respect for those who are different while watching Gove gleefully brush over Trump’s inconsistencies upon interviewing him, focusing instead on whether we’re “at the front of the queue” for a trade deal, only adds to that sense of disbelief. Never mind Trump’s disgraceful views, never mind that British Muslims could be barred from travelling to America: all that matters is that we're at the front of the queue.

Boris Johnson went further than just asking for a trade deal but instead “hoped for a strong bond”. Theresa May simply congratulated him on his victory without any criticism whatsoever of his remarks. Thankfully Angela Merkel showed Theresa May how it should be done. Trump wouldn't and shouldn't given a blank cheque; instead, he was offered cooperation on the basis of shared values by Germany.

As Theresa May was pressed on whether she would challenge the comments made by Trump on women and minorities during her forthcoming meeting with him, she claimed the talks would focus on more “pressing global issues”. Never mind the fact that 2 million people across the world over the weekend marched and protested against him. Clearly, for our Prime Minister, that movement was not global enough.

I'm not demanding our Government cut off relations with Trump, but at the very least all I ask is that they publicly recognise he is not a normal president. To offer a degree of measured criticism, as has already been done by other world leaders, would make Britain look strong rather than weakening our position – and it would do wonders for our situation at home. Anything other sends out a clear message to myself and thousands of others that our elected representatives are happy to foster a strong bond with a president who has peddled fear, bigotry and misogyny, while using our “special relationship” to simply advance economic interests. That my rights, along with millions of others’, do not matter as much as a few extra dollars.