Conservative leader David Cameron has called for a ban on “preachers of hate” entering the United Kingdom. Mr Cameron accused Prime Minister Gordon Brown of dithering over the case of Islamist cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, following press reports that he is to be granted permission to come to London for medical treatment.

The Tory leader branded Mr al-Qaradawi – and the head of Hezbollah’s TV station Ibrahim Moussawi, who recently spoke in Manchester – “dangerous and divisive” and said they should not be allowed in the country. And he called for a complete ban on Islamist political movements Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Hezbollah.

Speaking at the first meeting in London of a working group between the Conservatives and the main German centre-right party the CDU, Mr Cameron is due to say: “It’s clear for reasons of our security that we must expel or refuse entry to those who preach hate, pit one faith against another and divide our society.

“So I call on the Government to confirm that it will not be giving al-Qaradawi permission to enter this country and that it will not repeat the mistake of last December and make clear that Moussawi is not welcome in the UK.”

Press Association, 29 November 2008

See also Pink News, 28 November 2008