A quarter of the British public support Donald Trump's plan to ban all Muslim immigration

While most voters are opposed, Ukip voters are overwhelmingly supportive

Donald Trump has called for a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States

A quarter of the British public agree with Donald Trump’s proposal to halt all Muslim immigration and travel to the US, polling suggests.

25 per cent of British people surveyed by YouGov said the Republican presidential frontrunner’s comments amounted to an “appropriate” policy for the United States to purpose.

The vast majority, 64 per cent, said the policy was “inappropriate,” however.

Mr Trump, a billionaire businessman, is the early frontrunner to be the Republican Party’s candidate for president next year.

He leads his nearest rival Ben Carson by 30 per cent to 15 per cent in polling averages.

On Sunday night he called for a complete temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and claimed that many people of that religion nursed a “hatred” of the US.

“Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on,” he said, speaking of himself in the third person.

“We have no choice. We have no choice. According to Pew research, among others, there is a great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.”

The comments have been widely criticised and derided as racist by politicians and commentators across the political spectrum.

While the majority of the British public oppose the proposal in the context of the United States, there were small but significant pockets of support for it.

YouGov asked: “US Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States, including Muslims seeking immigration visas as well as tourists. Do you think this is an appropriate or inappropriate policy for the US?”

Ukip voters were overwhelmingly in favour of the plan, with 61 per cent backing it against 32 per cent who were opposed.

No other party registered more than 30 per cent support for the policy, however – with the SNP the strongest opposed with 79 per cent against and 16 per cent in favour.

Very high support amongst Ukip voters comes despite the party's leader Nigel Farage saying Mr Trump had "gone too far".

Well over 100,000 people have signed a petition to ban the Republican politician from the UK, meaning that proposal will be considered for debate in Parliament.