The chairman of Finsbury Park Mosque would welcome Donald Trump for a visit - in spite of his inflammatory comments about Muslims.

Islington Gazette: Finsbury Park Mosque chairman Mohammed Kozbar would be happy to show Donald Trump the work he and his colleagues do in the communityFinsbury Park Mosque chairman Mohammed Kozbar would be happy to show Donald Trump the work he and his colleagues do in the community (Image: Archant)

This afternoon, MPs will debate a petition, signed by over 570,000 people, to ban the US presidential hopeful from the UK.

It comes after numerous remarks about minority groups, including calls for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”.

Speaking about Mr Trump on the Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Islington North MP and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said heshouldn’t be banned from the country, and invited him to Finsbury Park Mosque - now seen as a peaceful heartbeat of its community after a troubled past.

Chairman Mohammed Kozbar this morning agreed with Mr Corbyn. He said: “Despite the offence that he has caused to the Muslim community from his recent comments - and it’s not just the Muslim community he has offended, as shown by over half a million people signing the petition - Jeremy Corbyn has invited him to Finsbury Park and we welcome that.

“We have no problem with him seeing the good work we do, building bridges between our communities.”

Mr Corbyn had said: “I think Donald Trump has weird, and frankly off-the-wall views. I was asked about this some while ago and decided to invite Donald Trump on his visit to Britain to come with me to my constituency, because he has problems with Mexicans and Muslims.

“My wife is Mexican and my constituency is very, very multicultural. So what I was going to do was go down to the mosque with him, and let him talk to people there.”