Campaigners have been refused permission to fly a Donald Trump baby blimp at Holyrood this weekend.
The 20ft inflatable depicting the US president as a nappy-clad baby holding a mobile phone was flown above Parliament Square in London on Friday.
It prompted Mr Trump to say it made him “feel unwelcome” in the city, on his second day of a four-day UK visit.
#TrumpBaby just gave @realDonaldTrump the welcome he deserves.
“I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London.” pic.twitter.com/LoakgcaXai
— Trump Baby (@TrumpBabyUK) July 13, 2018
Organisers had planned to transport the blimp to Scotland overnight on the sleeper train and fly it at a protest near the Scottish Parliament on Saturday.
But a spokeswoman for the Scottish Parliament said: “Parliamentary officials have declined a request to fly the balloon at Holyrood, as it would not be an appropriate use of the Parliament’s grounds.
“We do, however, support the right to protest and have agreed to the rally setting off from Holyrood on Saturday.”
Earlier, protester Leo Murray, one of the blimp’s “babysitters”, said: “We were inundated with messages from friends and allies in Scotland asking us to bring Trump baby up, so we really wanted to make sure that he could be a part of the amazing spread of protests taking place over the weekend.
The group’s previous attempt to have the blimp fly above the Trump Turnberry golf course as the president visits there this weekend were blocked due to airspace restrictions.
Various protests are planned to coincide with the president’s visit to Scotland, including a national demonstration and “carnival of resistance” in Edinburgh.
