UK Parliament to debate whether to ban Trump

Britain's Parliament will this month debate whether to ban outspoken US politician Donald Trump from entering the country, the body's petitions committee said on Tuesday.

Almost 570,000 British residents and citizens signed an online petition calling for Republican presidential candidate Trump to be barred from Britain for "hate speech" after his controversial comments targeting Muslims, Mexicans and others.

"If the United Kingdom is to continue applying the 'unacceptable behaviour' criteria to those who wish to enter its borders, it must be fairly applied to the rich as well as poor, and the weak as well as powerful," the petition says.

Some 40,000 people have signed an opposing petition calling for him not to be banned, saying comments made on the US election trail do not concern Britain and citing possible complications to future US-British ties.

Parliament's 11-member petitions committee said both petitions would be debated on 18 January.

British politicians are obliged to consider for debate any petition on the government's official petitions website that reaches 100,000 signatures.

No decisions are taken at the end of the debate.

The UK government initially suggested it would not weigh in on the issue, saying last month: "The government has a policy of not routinely commenting on individual immigration or exclusion cases."

The government has blocked some controversial figures from entering Britain due to concerns about hate speech.

Trump is the frontrunner in the race to win the Republican nomination for the US 2016 presidential election, and has suggested banning Muslims from entering the United States and labelled Mexican immigrants rapists and drug dealers.