An open letter of protest to the Prime Minister, Theresa May, initiated by Kent Law School staff in response to her decision to align the British Government with the new administration of President Donald Trump, has attracted nearly 400 signatures from the UK legal academic community, with the number of signatories continuing to climb.
The letter expresses collective dismay and surprise at the Prime Minister’s “persistent failure” to oppose a series of “openly discriminatory” policies initiated by President Trump and criticises her decision to extend an invitation to him to visit the UK.
It goes on to describe recent measures enacted by the Trump administration as “openly racist, xenophobic, misogynistic and homophobic.” These include the recent executive order banning people from seven Muslim-majority states from entering the US and the indefinite suspension of the US Syrian refugee programme.
Colleagues from universities across the country have added their names to the call for the Prime Minister to cancel President Trump’s invitation to visit the UK and to withdraw the British Government’s support for the US more generally until these “indefensible policies have been reversed and disavowed.”
Described as the “first step in a wider strategy of resistance”, the letter is available online and will remain open for any academic or professional staff member of a UK university to sign until 6pm on Sunday 5 February. After this date, the letter will be sent with all signatures to the Prime Minister and media outlets.
A copy of the letter, together with a list of signatories, is also available to view on the Critical Legal Thinking blog.
Image credit: RESIST by Alisdare Hickson CC BY-SA 2.0