Members of British Parliament on Monday spent three hours debating whether to ban Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump from entering the United Kingdom. Trump had earlier called for a total ban on Muslims entering the United States, after which a petition in the UK calling for his ban in the country got around 5,74,000 signatures.

British Prime Minister David Cameron earlier indicated he would not ban Trump from entering the country, but the debate went ahead in the House of Commons. By British law, petitions which have more than 1,00,000 signatures must be considered for debate in the Parliament.

Several MPs were in favour of banning Trump, arguing that he could incite tension between various communities in Britain. Others against it said banning him from the UK would be counter-risk making him a martyr and would give him an edge in American polls. Arguments against the ban also added that it would be counter-productive.