“Now the truth is out. After days of tough talking from the Prime Minister, assurances that strict measures will be put in place against future terrorist attacks and a vow to crack down on the extremists in our midst, the Egyptian-born scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi is to be allowed in to this country.

“He is due to speak at a conference in Manchester: it has yet to be seen whether he repeats his view that suicide bombing in Palestine is ‘martyrdom in the name of God’.

“Just what are we doing letting in a man like that? The United States has barred him: we should be doing exactly the same. For far too long, we have allowed preachers of hate to visit these shores, spouting their evil rhetoric, and what happened in London two weeks ago is a direct result of that.

“It is time to understand once and for all that there are many people throughout the world and some – thanks to a misguided policy of tolerance – living in our very midst who want to destroy the West. And they believe that only by supporting violence and terror will they be able to do so.

“The British tradition of free speech is a fine thing but it has been abused far too far. We should ban this man al-Qaradawi at once.”

Daily Express, 19 July 2005