MAIL Online: A bitter diplomatic row erupted today after Britain banned a controversial Right-wing Dutch politician from the UK.
Geert Wilders had been invited by the Ukip peer Lord Pearson to show his anti-Islam film 'Fitna' and hold a Q&A session in Parliament tomorrow.
The 17-minute documentary features verses from the Koran - which it brands a 'fascist book' - alongside images of the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks.
It equates Islam's holy text with violence and ends with a call to Muslims to remove its 'hate-preaching' verses.
After being alerted to the private screening, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith barred Mr Wilders on the grounds that his visit was a threat to 'community harmony and therefore public security'.
But the move brought a furious response from the Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen - a political opponent of Mr Wilders - who complained directly to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband in a 'curt' telephone call.
'The fact that a Dutch parliamentarian is refused entry to another EU country is highly regrettable,' he said.
However, Britain is refusing to give way, even though Mr Wilders is a democratically-elected politician and the leader of a legitimate political party.
A defiant Mr Wilders, who claims to have visited the House of Lords in December, called the decision 'cowardly' and vowed last night to go ahead with his visit.
'Let them try to detain me,' he said. 'I'll see what happens at the border. Let them put me in handcuffs. We are talking here about a European Union country, one of the oldest democracies in the Western world.'
While Mr Verhagen said the Dutch government would press Britain to reverse the ban, Lord Pearson said he was 'very surprised' to hear the news.
Under UK and EU immigration rules, a person can be refused entry to Britain, 'if his exclusion is justified on grounds of public policy, public security or public health.'
The Home Office refused to comment on the individual case of Mr Wilders.
But a spokesman said: 'The Government opposes extremism in all its forms. It will stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country.
'We endorse the original condemnation of the film 'Fitna' by the Dutch Government, and feel that it serves no constructive purpose. >>> By Michael Lea | Wednesday, February 11, 2009
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Wilders to Travel to Great Britain Despite Ban
The leader of the populist Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, says he will travel to Great Britain on Thursday in spite of a decision by the British government to refuse him entry. The British authorities say he is not welcome because his visit could pose a threat to public order. Mr Wilders had been invited by a member of the House of Lords to show his film Fitna. Members of the British Muslim community have protested against plans to show the film.
The British refusal to deny entry to a Dutch MP has been condemned by politicians from across the Dutch political spectrum. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has contacted his British counterpart David Milibrand and protested against the decision. [Source: RNW] Wednesday, February 11, 2009
AFP: Far-right Dutch MP Ignores Britain on Entry Refusal
THE HAGUE — A far-right Dutch politician facing trial after likening Islam to Nazism vowed Wednesday to press ahead with a planned trip to London despite Britain's refusal to grant him entry.
"I am going tomorrow. We will see what will happen," Geert Wilders, best known for his anti-Islam short film "Fitna", told AFP.
He said his plane was scheduled to land at Heathrow airport on Thursday at 1305 GMT.
Wilders, 45, is the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), which has nine seats in parliament.
British authorities informed Wilders on Tuesday that his presence in the United Kingdom would pose a "genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society".
"Your statements about Muslims and their beliefs, as expressed in your film 'Fitna' and elsewhere, would threaten community harmony and therefore public security," said a letter addressed to Wilders and made available to AFP. >>> | Wednesday, February 11, 2009
BBC:
Geert Wilders Banned from Entering UK >>>
THE GUARDIAN:
Twaddle, Twaddle, Twaddle from the Left-leaning Guardian >>>
THE SPECTATOR: Britain Capitulates to Terror
If anyone had doubted the extent to which Britain has capitulated to Islamic terror, the banning of Geert Wilders a few hours ago should surely open their eyes. Wilders, the Dutch member of parliament who had made an uncompromising stand against the Koranic sources of Islamist extremism and violence, was due to give a screening of Fitna, his film on this subject, at the House of Lords on Thursday. This meeting had been postponed after Lord Ahmed had previously threatened the House of Lords authorities that he would bring a force of 10,000 Muslims to lay siege to the Lords if Wilders was allowed to speak. To their credit, the Lords authorities had stood firm and said extra police would be drafted in to meet this threat and the Wilders meeting should go ahead.
But now the government has announced that it is banning Wilders from the country. A letter from the Home Secretary’s office to Wilders, delivered via the British embassy in the Hague, said:
...the Secretary of State is of the view that your presence in the UK would pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society. The Secretary of State is satisfied that your statements about Muslims and their beliefs, as expressed in your film Fitna and elsewhere would threaten community harmony and therefore public security in the UK.So let’s get this straight. The British government allows people to march through British streets screaming support for Hamas, it allows Hizb ut Tahrir to recruit on campus for the jihad against Britain and the west, it takes no action against a Muslim peer who threatens mass intimidation of Parliament, but it bans from the country a member of parliament of a European democracy who wishes to address the British Parliament on the threat to life and liberty in the west from religious fascism.
It is he, not them, who is considered a ‘serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society’. Why? Because the result of this stand for life and liberty against those who would destroy them might be an attack by violent thugs. The response is not to face down such a threat of violence but to capitulate to it instead. >>> Melanie Phillips | Wednesday, February 11, 2009
LIVE LEAK: Fitna
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>
