Hate preachers to be ‘named and shamed’
Extremists and “hate stirrers” will face further regulations when trying to enter the country under newly introduced rules announced by home secretary Jacqui Smith today.
“Coming to the UK is a privilege and I refuse to extend that privilege to individuals who abuse our standards and values to undermine our way of life,” said Ms Smith.
The new regulations will “name and shame” hate preachers and extremists by identifying them and sharing the list of prohibited persons with other countries.
Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne said: “Naming and shaming is a tawdry gimmick that ministers will live to regret if they make a mistake and end up being sued for libel.
“After all, the authorities have made a raft of serious errors stretching from Jean Charles de Menezes through to the Algerian pilot Lotfi Raissi.”
Around 230 people have been barred from entering the country since August 2005 on suspicion of jeopardising national security or fostering radicalism; of those, 79 were preachers of hate.
“It is quite right to exclude anyone whose speech is likely to prove so inflammatory as to provoke violence or racial hatred, but these ideas add nothing since the government has already excluded 79 preachers of hate in three years,” said Huhne.
“The real need is for quiet intelligence to tackle British preachers of hate, and to block hate-filled internet sites.”
Under the new rules, banned persons will have the responsibility to prove that they are no longer hate preachers and that they have publicly renounced their former beliefs in order to enter the country.
“Through these tough new measures I will stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country,” said Ms Smith.
