RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Dutch Right-wing politician and controversial anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders has been refused entry to the United Kingdom despite being invited to visit by a member of the House of Lords, the British parliament's upper chamber.
Mr Wilders (pictured), who was due to go to London this Thursday, received a letter today, 10 February, from the British ambassador to the Netherlands telling him that he was not welcome, reportedly because his visit would constitute a threat to public order.
Handcuffs
Mr Wilders responded to the decision in fighting mood, telling Dutch media that he still intended to travel to London:
"I'll see what happens at the border. Let them put me in handcuffs."Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen's response was also firm. He contacted his UK counterpart, David Miliband, by telephone and voiced his dissatisfaction that a member of the Dutch parliament - Geert Wilders is in fact also the leader of a political grouping, the Freedom Party - has been prohibited from entering a fellow European Union member state. >>> By RNW Internet, (Sources: ANP/Elsevier) | Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Send your PROTESTS to the Foreign Secretary:
private.office@fco.gov.uk OR milibandd@parliament.uk
TELEGRAPH BLOGS: Geert Wilders, Anti-Islamic Politician, Banned from Britain
Can this really be true? An elected representative, the leader of a legitimate political party, banned from entering the United Kingdom? On what possible grounds?
It's true that Geert Wilders is a controversialist, who takes pleasure in causing offence. He needs 24-hour protection, so serious are the death-threats he has attracted from jihadis. He revels in offending liberals as well as Muslims: his call for the Koran to be banned struck me as rather inconsistent with his stated commitment to civic freedoms. I wouldn't vote for him if I were Dutch.
But what I think of him is neither here nor there. Freedom means the freedom to express any opinion, however eccentric, however offensive. The Dutch foreign minister, a political opponent of Mr Wilders, has complained to David Miliband. Good for him. Whether our government is actuated by cowardice or authoritarianism, it's equally ugly. We are a meaner country than we were this morning. Comment here >>> Daniel Hannan | Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Hat tip: Dale Hurd >>>
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