As world leaders gathered for the 70th NATO summit, protestors nearby called the meeting and Trump’s presence in the UK “shameful”.

Nearby The Grove hotel where the NATO summit was held, climate activists and groups against President Donald Trump met up to show their opposition against weapons, NATO and the US president.

Members of the UK Student Climate Network and other campaigners came to the site with signs stating, ‘no to Trump, no to NATO’ and ‘the only thing that should go extinct is Trumps ideology’.

Shabbir Lakha, 27, who travelled from London to protest the visit, said: “We’re here to protest outside the NATO summit and particularly against Donald Trump being invited to this country for the third time now, despite the popular opposition to him.

“I think he shouldn’t have been allowed to this country at all, I think it’s shameful that NATO is celebrating its 70th anniversary as if that is something to celebrate. And here in London and Watford, I’m sure people oppose NATO’s presence here.”

Watford Observer:

Shabbir Lakha at the protest. (Photo: James Cowen)

Chris Ostrowski, the Labour parliamentary candidate for Watford, came to support the protestors.

While at the site, Mr Ostrowski explained his opposition against many of President Trumps policies including the United States withdrawing from the Paris Agreement (COP 21) which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emission.

Mr Ostrowski said: “I think it’s a fantastic opportunity because we got the UK student climate network and parts of extinction rebellion here standing against Trumps decision to remove the US from COP 21, standing up against what Donald Trump stands for.

“The reason I’m here today is I want people to know that if they vote Labour here in Watford, they’ll have a Jeremy Corbyn led government that will prioritise peace over war and the NHS will be safe away from Donald Trump.”

Watford Observer:

Chris Ostrowski came to the protest. (Photo: James Cowen)

Many of the protestors cheered after the claim that the NHS will be “safe away from Donald Trump” with a Labour government.

He added: “It’s very annoying for residents of Watford that all the roads are closed. I don’t see why they chose this particular venue. I mean my thoughts go out to the people that had to drop off their kids to school this morning. My own kids managed to walk to school, but a number of families were late today.

“We’d prefer it didn’t happen; we would prefer it to go about our daily life. I don’t know why the venue was chosen here to be honest. I don’t know the reason for that.

“I certainly support what the police are doing here. I know that they notified people in advance and they put lots of leaflets through people’s letterbox. The police have done their bit, it’s just very disruptive for the local residents.”

Watford Observer:

Loveday Hodson, another campaigner (Photo: James Cowen)

Loveday Hodson, a campaigner from Watford wanted to make sure she wanted to make sure that President Trump did not feel welcome in the UK. She said: “I’m here to make sure that Trump doesn’t feel too comfortable in Watford. He’s misogynist and demonstrably homophobic.

“And I’m also here to support the young people who are organising their climate protest. The environment is the most important issue of our day and they’re just doing their job.”

During the NATO summit, President Trump confirmed that he would be leaving the UK to go back to Washington earlier than expected and not take part in a press conference at the close of NATO.