London Mayor approves Trump baby balloon protest

Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-06 18:52:40|Editor: zh
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LONDON, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A giant Trump Baby balloon is given green light from London mayor to be flown close to the UK Parliament during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to London next week, it was reported Friday.

The 6-meter-high orange balloon, in the form of Trump wearing a nappy, will fly above Westminster for about two hours on the morning of next Friday, July 13, to coincide with a 'Stop Trump' demonstration in central London which about 50,000 people are expected to attend.

London mayor Sadiq Khan approved the request of flying the balloon Thursday, saying he respects the right of Britons to engage in peaceful protest and there is no ground to ban it.

Activists had raised over 17,000 pounds (22,490 U.S. dollars) to fund this crowdfunding campaign and thousands of people signed a petition calling on London local authority to grant permission.

A spokesperson for Khan said: "The Mayor supports the right to peaceful protest and understands that this can take many different forms. His city operations team have met with the organizers and have given them permission to use Parliament Square Garden as a grounding point for the blimp."

The organizers of the balloon campaign will also need to receive necessary approvals from the Metropolitan Police and National Air Traffic Service in order for it to fly.

The U.S. president will begin his three-day working trip to Britain next Thursday. Mass protests have been planned to greet the president at other venues during his stay, reported The Times.

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