LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he would be very happy to meet Donald Trump despite his “dangerous” views on Muslims.
“I don’t know. American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through Europe and through the UK, and if that happens I’d be very happy to,” Cameron, 49, said in an interview on ‘Peston on Sunday’ show, conducted by British television channel.
But he repeated his claim that Trump’s proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US is wrong.
“It’s a very dangerous thing to say… as well as a divisive and wrong one,” he said.
“I don’t withdraw in any way what I said about the policy of not letting Muslims in to America. I do think that is wrong and divisive.
“We’ve got to demonstrate that what we’re up against here is a very small minority of a minority, Islamist extremists, that want to divide our societies, and we’ve got to explain that there are billions of people in our world who are devout Muslims but who believe in liberal democracy and all the things we believe in,” Cameron said.
Trump has suggested a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the US “until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on”.
Earlier this week, Trump indicated that he may end up having a bad relationship with Cameron after the British leader criticised his controversial proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US as “divisive, stupid and wrong”.
A petition has been signed by half a million people in Britain, demanding Trump be banned from the country. Though lawmakers have debated the issue, they have rejected a ban.