Donald Trump UK Ban? Petition To Keep Candidate From England Will Be Considered For Parliament Debate, Following Muslim Comments

More than 150,000 people in the United Kingdom signed a petition Wednesday to ban real estate mogul and Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump from entering the European country. The petition, which will be considered for debate in Parliament, came after Trump suggested that the United States should ban all Muslims from entering the U.S. because of the perceived threat of Islamic extremism.

Following a spate of deadly attacks tied to such extremism in Paris and San Bernardino, California, in the past month, which left a combined 144 people dead, Trump called Monday for a “total and complete shutdown” on allowing Muslims into the U.S. "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad and have no sense of reason or respect for human life,” he said, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Trump’s comments have triggered bipartisan backlash from U.S. politicians, as well as people around the world, who have condemned the Republican front-runner’s remarks as racist. Residents and leaders in the U.K. criticized his remarks harshly, even responding with a petition posted Tuesday to ban the presidential hopeful from the country.

The petition, drafted by community activist Suzanne Kelly, was posted on British Parliament’s website Tuesday. Once a petition garners an excess of 100,000 signatures, it is automatically required to be considered for debate on the floor of Parliament.

"The UK has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech. The same principles should apply to everyone who wishes to enter the UK,” read a selection from the petition. On average 25,000 people were signing the petition per hour, according to the Guardian.

The country has one of the largest Muslim populations in Europe, counting nearly 2.6 million among its citizens.