Trump baby blimp back and could be even bigger for UK state visit
Balloon depicting nappy-wearing US president could be five times size of predecessor
Matthew Weaver
Tue 23 Apr 2019
The baby blimp during a women’s march to Parliament Squar in London last July. Photograph: Andrew Aitchison/In Pictures/Getty
The Donald Trump baby blimp, which became the focal point of protests against the US president’s visit to the UK in July, will rise again for the state visit and could be accompanied by a bigger version, activists have revealed.
What happened next? The Trump baby blimp: 'In retrospect, we should have ordered a bigger balloon'
Anti-Trump campaigners are considering launching a hot air balloon, five times the size of the blimp, which would also depict Trump as a wailing baby in a nappy.
Leo Murray, who helped crowdfund the original six-metre-high inflatable, said: “The Trump baby will definitely fly again.”
He added: “We have been toying with the idea of a Trump baby hot air balloon, which would be about five times the size. But would cost a huge amount of money – upwards of £70,000.”
The shadow Treasury minister, Clive Lewis, called on protesters to “dust off the blimp” amid widespread opposition to the three-day state visit in the first week of June, announced on Tuesday.
Last year, the London mayor gave permission for the Trump blimp to fly over the capital in a move that infuriated the president’s supporters.
A spokesman for Sadiq Khan hinted that an attempt to relaunch the balloon would be approved. He said: “Any application to fly it on land that the Greater London Authority manages will be judged by the same criteria as last time by GLA officials, the police and the Civil Aviation Authority.”
But campaigners fear the authorities will block the approval for a bigger version of the blimp. Asad Rehman, the executive director of War on Want and a member of the Stop Trump Coalition, said: “We do have the baby blimp – it will fly and we’re also thinking about the option of making a bigger baby blimp. Logistics are the only consideration.”
He added: “We are very confident there will be more than a quarter of a million protesters. Trump’s visit last year mobilised a large number of people, but a year later the man has done more to rip up human rights, step back from international norms, continued his climate denialism and fuelled white nationalism.”
Murray conceded that raising money for the bigger blimp “might not be the best use of resources, especially if we are unable to fly it over London”.
The Donald Trump baby blimp, which became the focal point of protests against the US president’s visit to the UK in July, will rise again for the state visit and could be accompanied by a bigger version, activists have revealed.
What happened next? The Trump baby blimp: 'In retrospect, we should have ordered a bigger balloon'
Anti-Trump campaigners are considering launching a hot air balloon, five times the size of the blimp, which would also depict Trump as a wailing baby in a nappy.
Leo Murray, who helped crowdfund the original six-metre-high inflatable, said: “The Trump baby will definitely fly again.”
He added: “We have been toying with the idea of a Trump baby hot air balloon, which would be about five times the size. But would cost a huge amount of money – upwards of £70,000.”
The shadow Treasury minister, Clive Lewis, called on protesters to “dust off the blimp” amid widespread opposition to the three-day state visit in the first week of June, announced on Tuesday.
Last year, the London mayor gave permission for the Trump blimp to fly over the capital in a move that infuriated the president’s supporters.
A spokesman for Sadiq Khan hinted that an attempt to relaunch the balloon would be approved. He said: “Any application to fly it on land that the Greater London Authority manages will be judged by the same criteria as last time by GLA officials, the police and the Civil Aviation Authority.”
But campaigners fear the authorities will block the approval for a bigger version of the blimp. Asad Rehman, the executive director of War on Want and a member of the Stop Trump Coalition, said: “We do have the baby blimp – it will fly and we’re also thinking about the option of making a bigger baby blimp. Logistics are the only consideration.”
He added: “We are very confident there will be more than a quarter of a million protesters. Trump’s visit last year mobilised a large number of people, but a year later the man has done more to rip up human rights, step back from international norms, continued his climate denialism and fuelled white nationalism.”
Murray conceded that raising money for the bigger blimp “might not be the best use of resources, especially if we are unable to fly it over London”.
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