UK govt. does not say it bans Trump despite petition

The British government has issued an inconclusive response to the online petition on the parliament website saying, “The Government has a policy of not routinely commenting on individual immigration or exclusion cases.”
 
“The Home Secretary [Theresa May] may exclude a non-European Economic Area national from the UK if she considers their presence in the UK to be non-conducive to the public good.”
 
The statement added that “the Home Secretary has said that coming to the UK is a privilege and not a right and she will continue to use the powers available to prevent from entering the UK those who seek to harm our society and who do not share our basic values.”
 
“Exclusion powers are very serious and are not used lightly. The Home Secretary will use these powers when justified and based on all available evidence.”
 
The statement comes after nearly 570,000 UK citizens signed the petition against Trump, urging the government to ban the American tycoon.
 
The Islamophobic real estate mogul recently demanded a halt to Muslims' entrance to the United States "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."
 
Trump believes there should be a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims" who seek to travel to the US.
 
Now the British government statement says, “The Prime Minister [David Cameron] has made clear that he completely disagrees with Donald Trump’s remarks. The Home Secretary has said that Donald Trump’s remarks in relation to Muslims are divisive, unhelpful and wrong.”
 
“The Government recognizes the strength of feeling against the remarks and will continue to speak out against comments which have the potential to divide our communities, regardless of who makes them. We reject any attempts to create division and marginalization amongst those we endeavor to protect.”
 
Filed on December 8, the petition to formally bar Trump from entering the country cites his use of "hate speech" and asks that the UK government "to continue applying the 'unacceptable behavior' criteria to those who wish to enter."
 
The British parliament says it “considers all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures for a debate.”