'Hate preacher' shame plan

EXTREMISTS barred from entering the UK will be named and shamed under a tough new stance against so-called “preachers of hate” to be announced by the Government

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is to outline plans to publish lists of some individuals prevented from entering the UK – including radical clerics and other extremists such as neo-Nazis.
Their names will also be shared with other countries.

A total of 230 people have been barred since 2005 but their identities have only become known when they have publicly complained about the decision against them.
An official said earlier this week that the new measures were aimed at “preventing anyone who will stir up tensions in the UK from entering the country”.

“We have not named them in the past but now, when it was in the public interest, we will,” the official added.
A Home Office spokesman said a written ministerial statement would be issued later today.
“It’s about excluding people for whom it is not in the public interest to come into this country.” he said.

"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. "

The 230 previously blocked have included neo-Nazis, holocaust deniers and animal rights activists. About 80 of them have been religious extremists.

Other people to have been excluded from the UK include Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, from the US, in 2002 and Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who lives in Qatar, earlier in 2008.
When Muslim cleric Mr al-Qaradawi was refused a visa, the Home Office said the UK would not tolerate the presence of those who sought to justify acts of terrorist violence.

Deporting preachers of hate living in Britain was a key element in a 12-point-plan announced by Tony Blair in August 2005 after the terrorist attacks in London. He said the measures would see foreigners deported or barred from entering Britain for justifying terrorism and encouraging hatred between communities.

Meanwhile, Abu Qatada lives, eats, and shops on the government dole. That'll show 'em. "Just one 'preacher of hate' deported in last three years," by Andrew Porter and Caroline Gammell for the Telegraph, October 28: