SNP politicians calling for Donald Trump to be banned from the UK were accused of hypocrisy last night after he was “lauded and applauded” north of the border.
Democratic Unionist MP Gavin Robinson rejected the notion anyone would have needed a crystal ball to recognise the US presidential hopeful was capable of “the most obscene or insensitive” remarks.
But Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, the SNP’s spokeswoman on trade and investment, insisted Mr Trump’s tirade about Muslims could not have been foreseen.
She also said his GlobalScot status, removed by the Scottish Government last year in the aftermath of the comments, had been bestowed by a Labour administration.
The row came during a debate in Westminster Hall, the Commons second chamber, on a petition with more than half a million signatures calling for the US businessman to be barred from the UK.
MPs also discussed a counter-petition which had been signed by more than 40,000 people.
As both were considered, a House of Commons spokesman confirmed some further 30,000 names had been removed from the latter because they matched more than one of the criteria indicating fraud.
Arguing the Scottish Government had encouraged Mr Trump’s investment and pointing to previous comments, Mr Robinson said: “You didn’t need a crystal ball, you just needed to know who you were working with.
“You don’t need a crystal ball to recognise that the person you are dealing with may be a successful businessman but is also a buffoon and has the dangerous capability of saying the most obscene or insensitive things to attract attention.”
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, who is a Muslim, said Mr Trump’s comments had “bolstered the twisted narrative promoted by the terrorist cult Daesh and others that pits the West against the Muslim faith”.
She added: “He’s fuelled racial tensions across the world while undermining the national security of both the US and the UK.
“Our rules and laws must be applied consistently for all.”
Both First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond have also previously spoken in favour of a ban.
The Trump Organisation dismissed the debate as an “absurd” waste of parliamentary time.
Sarah Malone, executive vice president of Trump International Golf Links, said: “For the UK to consider banning someone who made a statement in America, about American borders, during a US election campaign is ridiculous.
“Westminster is creating a dangerous precedent on this issue and is sending a terrible message to the world.”
Reiterating Mr Trump’s threat to abandon plans for a further £700million investment in the UK if there is any attempt at a ban, she added: “With the collapse of the oil price, the investment in Aberdeen has never been more important.”
Speaking in support of a ban, Labour’s Tulip Siddiq pointed to an increase in anti-Muslim hate crime over the last three months.
She said there was a “very real correlation” between rising hate crime and Mr Trump’s comments.
But veteran Tory Sir Edward Leigh said the step would mean “falling into the trap he has set”.
He also said barring the tycoon would offend free speech, adding: “In a free country you have the right to offend.”
Sir Edward went on: “If the Government was to act on it (the call for a ban), it would only play into Mr Trump’s hands. His entire style of politics is to stoke controversy and say outrageous things.”
Labour MP Paul Flynn, who opened the debate, warned against fixing on Mr Trump the “halo of victimhood”, urging instead that his “words of prejudice” be confronted.
The New York-based businessman, who owns golf resorts at Menie and Turnberry, was widely condemned after he called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims coming to the US in the aftermath of a terror attack in California.
In Aberdeen, he was stripped of his Robert Gordon University honorary degree.