Theresa May Calls for New Powers to Tackle Extremists

BBC: Home Secretary Theresa May has called for new powers to ban extremist groups and curb the activities of 'harmful' individuals.

Banning orders and "extreme disruption" orders will feature in the party's 2015 election manifesto, the home secretary told the Tory Party conference.

She explained to BBC's Norman Smith what these powers will mean. Watch BBC video » | Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Immigration Bill: Theresa May Defends Plans to Create 'Hostile Environment'

Home secretary defends proposals in Thursday's flagship bill following claims that they will be unfair and unworkable

Read the Guardian article here

Robert Spencer and Michael Coren Discuss Being Banned in Britain

HT: Robert @ Jihad Watch »

American Counter-Jihadists Barred from Britain
LIBERTY GB: : Liberty GB supporter Walter Tyler has written to Home Secretary Theresa May condemning her decision to bar American counter-jihad activists Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller

Ref: Refusal to admit Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller

26th June 2013

CC Bill Cash

Dear Home Secretary,

I write in response to your refusal to admit Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller to the UK. I have noted with increasing despondency the way in which Muslims in this country allied with various nefarious leftist elements are able to subvert 'free speech' by protesting the action of law abiding citizens.

I am a former sociologist and have studied Islam in great detail. I would suggest that you delineate between what is religious within Islam and what is political. Clearly killing people in the name of Jihad is not religious and is entirely political. Therefore countering political Islam by protest is entirely legal and should be permitted in a free and democratic society.

Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, two people whose writing and interviews I am familiar with, have never to the best of my knowledge criticised the five pillars of Islam which are its spiritual tenets and its religious aspects. They have therefore not transgressed any law other than the self-appointed Islamic Sharia as applied in this country through you because you are scared of the threats of force made against the government by Islamic groups.

Slander and defamation in Islam is constituted by speaking the truth about someone/ something that the other person does not want uncovered or not advancing Islam. The social situation in this country is declining to such a state where there is an apartheid application of laws against the majority in favour of a politically supremacist minority. The propagation of Islam under British law is illegal since Islam calls for the annihilation of the Jews and the second class dhimmi status for other religious groups and the subsequent payment of protection money or 'jizya'.

Could you advise me what is being done to protect the majority in terms of the law from Islamic attacks including rape which is permitted in the Quran against non-believers? I understand that the law has never been applied against racist or religious attacks against white people or Christians in this country – please advise how the present laws protect both groups?

I also note that your Government is supporting Jihadi groups in Syria who are annihilating minority Shia and Alawite Muslims and Christians. Why are you supporting these groups when Assad is by far the lesser of the two evils?

I have come to the conclusion that Islam and Western Civilization are entirely incompatible. I remind you of the words of Sir Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain when he returned from Munich in 1938: "You had the choice between war and dishonour, you chose dishonour but you will get war".

Furthermore, you will be aware of Karl Popper's dictum that if you tolerate the intolerant then your tolerant society will be destroyed.

It appears that the government of this country cares more for the wellbeing of its enemies than it does for its own people. Such a civilization will not survive and indeed does not deserve to survive. The people will not forget and at some stage the belief in the social contract will falter if decisive action is not taken. The people will not have to follow any law of a morally corrupt government that protects a politically supremacist ideology over the interests over its own citizens.

Wat (Walter) Tyler | Leave a comment » | Wednesday, June 26, 2013

US Bloggers Banned from Entering UK

BBC: Two prominent US bloggers have been banned from entering the UK, the Home Office has said.

Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer co-founded anti-Muslim group Stop Islamization of America.

They were due to speak at an English Defence League march in Woolwich, where Drummer Lee Rigby was killed.

A government spokesman said individuals whose presence "is not conducive to the public good" could be excluded by the home secretary.

He added: "We condemn all those whose behaviours and views run counter to our shared values and will not stand for extremism in any form."

'Right decision'

Ms Geller, of the Atlas Shrugs blog, and Mr Spencer, of Jihad Watch, are also co-founders of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, best known for a pro-Israel "Defeat Jihad" poster campaign on the New York subway.

On both of their blogs the pair called their bans from entering the UK "a striking blow against freedom" and said the "the nation that gave the world the Magna Carta is dead".

They were due to attend a march planned by the far-right EDL to mark Armed Forces Day on 29 June, ending in Woolwich, south east London, where soldier Drummer Rigby was murdered last month.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, who had called for the bloggers to be banned from the UK, said: "I welcome the home secretary's ban on Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer from entering the country. This is the right decision. The UK should never become a stage for inflammatory speakers who promote hate."

EDL leader Tommy Robinson, meanwhile, criticised the decision and said Ms Geller and Mr Spencer were coming to the UK to lay flowers at the place where Drummer Rigby died.

"It's embarrassing for this so-called land of democracy and freedom of speech," he said.

"How many hate preachers are living in this country? It just shows what sort of a two-tier system we have here." » | Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Related »

Terror in Woolwich: Home Secretary Theresa May Threatens Online Crackdown for Extremists Who Don’t Advocate Violence
THE INDEPENDENT: Coalition clashes over Home Secretary's plans to revive controversial ‘snooper’s charter’

Radical Islamist groups which whip up hatred but do not advocate violence could be outlawed in the UK for the first time, under an attempt to curb the spread of hardline ideology being considered by the Government following the Woolwich murder.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, warned that there were thousands of people judged to be at risk of being radicalised as she set out moves to deprive hardliners of platforms for their views. They include plans to ban more organisations accused of fomenting division and to tighten the rules on their access to the internet, as well as the revival of plans for a "snooper's charter".

But the moves threaten to provoke a freedom-of-speech row as organisations which stop short of advocating terrorism could be banned under the proposals, which will be considered by a Whitehall task force headed by David Cameron.

At the moment, the Home Secretary has the legal power to proscribe an organisation linked to terrorism, such as al-Muhajiroun, which was outlawed in Britain in 2010.

But she has no authority to act against organisations suspected of "inciting hatred and division" and ministers will consider introducing a lower threshold enabling her to act, Whitehall sources said. » | Nigel Morris | Monday, May 27, 2013

Hate Preacher Abu Qatada Told He Can Stay in Britain as Theresa May Loses Appeal against Ruling that He Cannot Be Deported
MAIL ONLINE: Court of Appeal rejects latest attempt by Home Secretary to have Qatada sent back to Jordan / Released from jail in February last year under strict bail conditions / Returned to prison this month for breaching rules / Received over £500,000 in legal aid in ten-year battle with Government

Home Secretary Theresa May today lost her appeal court challenge to finally kick radical preacher Abu Qatada out of the UK.

In a major blow to the government's hopes of ever removing the radical hate preacher, the Court of Appeal ruled that he can stay in Britain.

Mrs May insisted 'this is not the end of the road' and will make another legal challenge against the ruling of judges in November that Qatada could not be deported to Jordan to face justice over alleged terror offences.

Qatada is said to have wide and high-level support among extremists, and featured in hate sermons found on videos in the flat of one of the September 11 bombers.

Mrs May's legal team argued at a recent one-day hearing in London that Qatada was a 'truly dangerous' individual who escaped deportation through 'errors of law'. Read on and comment » | Matt Chorley, MailOnline Political Editor | Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Theresa May: We'll Stop Migrants If Euro Collapses

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Government is drawing up plans for emergency immigration controls to curb an influx of Greeks and other European Union residents if the euro collapses, the Home Secretary discloses today.

In an interview in The Daily Telegraph, Theresa May says “work is ongoing” to restrict European immigration in the event of a financial collapse. People from throughout the EU, with the exception of new member countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, are able to work anywhere in the single market.

However, there are growing concerns that if Greece was forced to leave the euro, it would effectively go bankrupt and millions could lose their jobs and consider looking for work abroad.

The crisis could spread quickly to other vulnerable countries such as Spain, Ireland and Portugal, although Britain is regarded as a safe haven because it is outside the single currency.

Details of the contingency plan emerged as the euro crisis deepened further yesterday. » | Robert Winnett, and James Kirkup | Friday, May 25, 2012

My comment:

This woman is a joke! How long has she been telling us that immigration is going to be brought under control? In fact, under this administration, immigration has gone up! They can’t control the borders now. What makes her think they’ll be able to control the borders if the euro “collapses”? In any case, wouldn’t an influx of Greeks, Portuguese, or Spaniards be preferable for this country than Third World immigrants who have little in common with our heritage, and in any case have no desire or determination to integrate? Mrs. May, your words sound awfully hollow. Do you really expect us to believe this nonsense? You wouldn’t be able to control the flow of the pious into a prostitute’s parlour. – © Mark

Theresa May Records Video in Support of Gay Marriage
Theresa May, the Conservative home secretary, has pledged her personal support for gay marriage, becoming the most senior politician yet to take part in a cross-party video campaign supporting a change in the law. The Out4Marriage campaign records YouTube videos with politicians, celebrities, religious leaders and members of the public explaining why they support changing the law. The campaign says it has so far secured the support of 10 Conservatives

Muslims Against Crusades to Be Banned from Midnight

THE GUARDIAN: Home secretary announces ban on group, which burned poppies last November and was planning Armistice Day protest this year

The home secretary, Theresa May, has ordered Muslims Against Crusades, an Islamist group which is planning to disrupt Friday's Armistice Day ceremonies, be banned from midnight.

The organisation, which burned two large poppies near the Royal Albert Hall in London on Remembrance Day during the minute's silence last year, is a renamed successor to the already banned Islam4UK and other proscribed organisations. Anjem Choudary is a leading figure in both groups.

The immediate ban is part of the government's new drive to proscribe organisations that glorify terrorism in addition to those having direct links to terrorist groups.

The ban will make membership of Muslims Against Crusades a criminal offence.

May said: "I am satisfied Muslims Against Crusades is simply another name for an organisation already proscribed under a number of names including Al Ghurabaa, The Saved Sect, Al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK. The organisation was proscribed in 2006 for glorifying terrorism and we are clear it should not be able to continue these activities by simply changing its name."

A parliamentary order was laid at Westminster on Thursday morning implementing the ban. » | Alan Travis, home affairs editor | Thursday, November 10, 2011

NEWS.COM.AU: Remembrance Day protest called off: AN EXTREMIST Muslim group is canceling plans to demonstrate against Britain's Remembrance Day for fear of arrest. » | NewsCore | Friday, November 11, 2011

Theresa May: We Will Never Know How Many People Got Through Without Proper Checks

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Theresa May, the Home Secretary, admitted today that the number of people who entered the country without being checked against a Home Office database of terror suspects and illegal immigrants will never be known.

Mrs May said she had launched three inquiries in to what happened at the force as she told MPs senior staff had extended a pilot scheme she had authorised in April designed to focus checks on high-risk passengers entering the UK.

She told the House of Commons senior officials had "let down" hard-working staff and promised that those found guilty of relaxing checks without authorisation from ministers would be punished.

Mrs May said UK border force head Brodie Clark "authorised the wider relaxation of border controls without ministerial sanction."

Mr Clark, has since been suspended amid reports that border guards were told this summer not to bother checking fingerprints and other personal details against a Home Office database of terror suspects and illegal immigrants.

The Home Secretary said in July she agreed the UK Border Agency (UKBA) could "pilot a scheme that would allow Border Force officials to target intelligence-led checks on higher-risk categories of travellers". Read on and comment » | Monday, November 07, 2011

Why the hell is border control such a problem? Other countries are able to control their borders, to wit Switzerland, so why can't we? Are we really that dumb? – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Home Secretary: scrap the Human Rights Act

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Theresa May, the Home Secretary, risks an explosive rift inside the Coalition with an explicit call for the scrapping of the Human Rights Act.

Mrs May uses an interview with The Sunday Telegraph to warn that the Act is hampering the Home Office’s struggle to deport dangerous foreign criminals and terrorist suspects.

“I’d personally like to see the Human Rights Act go because I think we have had some problems with it,” she says.

The Home Secretary’s words will be cheered by many Conservative MPs as well as Tory ministers across Whitehall.

However, they are likely to be greeted with dismay by leading Liberal Democrats, some of whom have signalled the future of the Coalition would be under threat if any serious action was taken against the Act, which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. Continue reading and comment » | Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, October 01, 2011

Banned Preacher Can Seek Damages Over Illegal Arrest

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A banned Islamic preacher who entered Britain illegally following a Home Office blunder is entitled to seek damages after being detained unlawfully, a judge has ruled.

Sheikh Raed Salah, a Palestinian activist, could receive thousands of pounds for being wrongfully imprisoned shortly after entering the country in June this year.

Mr Salah, 52, was able to walk through immigration at Heathrow Airport unchallenged despite being banned by Theresa May, the Home Secretary, days before.

His exclusion order had been sent to the wrong terminal at the airport allowing him to arrive unopposed. He was arrested three days later when the error was discovered.

Yesterday, the migration watchdog, Migration Watch UK, condemned the judge’s decision. Sir Andrew Green, its chairman, said: “It is quite extraordinary that someone who had no right to be in Britain in the first place should be able to claim damages for his arrest.” » | James Orr | Friday, September 30, 2011

We Won't Accept Migrants Fleeing Turmoil in Africa, Theresa May Tells the French

MAIL ONLINE: Theresa May last night insisted Britain would not accept thousands of migrants fleeing the turmoil in North Africa.

The Home Secretary said the Government would not share the burden if European countries open their borders to asylum seekers.

In Calais to inspect joint immigration controls in the French port, Mrs May said: ‘I have made absolutely clear to my counterparts in Europe that we will not agree to so-called “burden sharing”.

'Britain will not be accepting large numbers of North African migrants. Instead we will be working with other European countries to get these people safely back to their home countries.

‘We have not, and will not, opt into any proposal that would weaken our borders,’ she added.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the political instability in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia in recent months. Their arrival in southern Europe has put huge strain on the continent’s system of open borders, leading to proposals that it be scaled back. » | Jack Doyle | Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Universities 'Complacent' over Islamic Radicals, Theresa May Warns
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Home Secretary has criticised universities for their “complacency” in tackling Muslim extremism as she prepares to publish the Government’s updated strategy for countering Islamic radicalism.

Theresa May told The Daily Telegraph that universities were not taking the issue of radicalisation seriously enough and that it was too easy for Muslim extremists to form groups on campuses “without anyone knowing”.

She also said the Government would cut funding to any Islamic group that espoused extremist views, and set out the “key British values” to which those seeking support must subscribe. It is understood that about 20 groups are already losing their funding.
Mrs May made her comments ahead of the publication this week of the updated version of the Prevent counter-terrorism strategy.

“I think for too long there’s been complacency around universities,” she said. “I don’t think they have been sufficiently willing to recognise what can be happening on their campuses and the radicalisation that can take place. I think there is more that universities can do.”

Mrs May said universities had to “send very clear messages” and “ask themselves some questions about what happens on their campuses”. » | Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | Sunday, June 05, 2011

Universities are seats of higher learning. Their purpose is to disseminate learning, erudition, and enlightenment. They are supposed to bring people out of darkness, not let them fall into it. Any university, however grand, however prestigious, is not worthy of its name if it allows its students to become, or remain, benighted. – © Mark

Police Probe 'Fatwa' by Muslim Extremists Against Home Secretary Theresa May
LONDON EVENING STANDARD: Police have launched an investigation after Muslim extremists issued a "fatwa" against Home Secretary Theresa May.

The Met acted after wanted-style posters were put up in Tooting.

The posters said the fatwa - sometimes taken to mean an Islamic death sentence - was "for the abduction, kidnapping and false imprisonment" of various Muslim clerics. An accompanying website has been set up as part of a campaign to highlight what organisers claim is unfair treatment of the Muslim community.

It says they have been left with "no alternative" because their concerns are being ignored. >>> Craig Woodhouse | Friday, January 28, 2011

Home Secretary Bans English Defence League March in Bradford
THE TELEGRAPH: Theresa May, the Home Secretary, has authorised a blanket ban on marches in a city on the day of a planned protest by the English Defence League (EDL), an [sic] right-wing campaign group.

The EDL had intended to demonstrate in Bradford on Saturday August 28 and Unite Against Fascism has planned a protest in the city on the same day.

A Home Office spokesman said: ''Having carefully balanced rights to protest against the need to ensure local communities and property are protected, the Home Secretary today gave her consent to a Bradford Council order banning any marches in the city over the bank holiday weekend. >>> | Friday, August 20, 2010

Britons to Be Spied On by Foreign Police
THE TELEGRAPH: Britons face being spied on and pursued by foreign police officers even for the most minor offences in an European agreement the Home Office will sign up to tomorrow.

The power allows prosecutors from any EU country to demand details such as DNA or even bank and phone records on anyone they suspect of a crime.

Officers in the UK would be almost powerless to refuse the request even if they believed it was disproportionate to the alleged offence being investigated.

They could also be told to carry out investigations and live surveillance for their EU counterparts, despite already stretched resources.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, will today announce she plans to sign up to the so-called European Investigation Order (EIO), The Daily Telegraph understands.

It comes despite concerns by fair trial campaigners and has angered backbench Tories.

It raises the prospect of personal details of individuals being passed on without their knowledge in the most minor of cases, such as leaving a restaurant without paying. >>> Tom Whitehead and Andrew Porter | Monday, July 26, 2010

Home Secretary Theresa May Bans Radical Preacher Zakir Naik from Entering UK
THE TELEGRAPH: A radical preacher who claimed that “every Muslim should be a terrorist” has been banned from coming to Britain, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Zakir Naik, a 44-year-old Indian televangelist, has been banned from coming to Britain. Photo: The Telegraph
In her first major test of being tough on extremism, Theresa May, the new Home Secretary, said she was banning Zakir Naik from entering the UK.

Dr Naik, a 44-year-old Indian televangelist, had been due to give a series of lectures at arenas in Wembley Arena and Sheffield.

The Home Secretary can exclude or deport an individual if she thinks that their presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good.

There had been speculation that Dr Naik would be allowed into the UK. However Mrs May said she was excluding him because of the “numerous comments” he made were evidence of his “unacceptable behaviour”.

This behaviour applies to anyone who writes or publishes material which can “foment justify or glorify terrorist violence” or “seek to provoke others to terrorist acts”.

Mrs May told The Daily Telegraph: “I have excluded Dr Naik from the UK. Numerous comments made by Dr Naik are evidence to me of his unacceptable behaviour.

“Coming to the UK is a privilege not a right and I am not wiling to allow those who might not be conducive to the public good to enter the UK.

“Exclusion powers are very serious and no decision is taken lightly or as a method of stopping open debate on issues.”

Home Office sources said Dr Naik had been filmed on a website making inflammatory comments such as “every Muslim should be a terrorist”. >>> Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor | Friday, June 18, 2010

Home Secretary Makes Gay Adoption U-Turn
SKY NEWS: Theresa May, the Home Secretary and Equalities Minister, has changed her mind on gay adoption amid criticism of her voting record.

Mrs May faced accusations that she was unsuitable for the job because she voted against allowing gay couples to adopt children in 2002.

Two years before that, she opposed the repeal of Section 28, a law which banned the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools.

But more recently she backed civil partnerships and called for tougher action on homophobic bullying.

Questioned by the BBC over her voting record on gay adoption, Mrs May said: "I have changed my mind." >>> Sky News | Friday, May 21, 2010