President Trump’s controversial state visit is right to go ahead, according to St Albans MP Anne Main.

MPs from across the country joined in a debate on Monday following a petition calling for the official invitation to be retracted.

More than 1.8 million people signed the petition, but also more than 300,000 people joined a different petition calling for the state visit to go ahead.

As both had more than 100,000 signatures they were debated in Parliament.

Mrs Main argued that even if the President’s policies are questionable, the US leader is an ally and Prime Minister Thersea May was right to invite him to the UK.

She said: “If we have concerns about his policies, we can by all means criticise them and raise those concerns, but until that point, until we turn our back on the President of the United States of America, I think it is quite appropriate that we offer a state visit.

“Our Prime Minister, through her diplomatic efforts, has secured a future for NATO and a future direction for this country that binds us together as allies.”

Outside, hoards of people came to protest his state visit as part of a demonstration organised by the Stop Trump Coalition and campaign group One Day Without Us.

The chair of the debate, Paul Flynn, a Labour MP for Newport West, closed the debate by saying: “By giving this rare accolade of a state visit to President Trump the implication is that we approve of him and his policies.

“It is fine to have the President here and it is fine to have a visit on business, there is no objection to that, but this marvellous debate that we have had shows that we are reacting to the voice of the people, and to the anger and fear outside.”

It was ruled the state visit would not be cancelled.