By KUNA,
London : Tougher measures to prevent extremists entering the UK are to be announced by Britain’s Home Secretary Mrs Jacqui Smith, Home Office officials said Tuesday.
They are designed to stop so-called “preachers of hate” stirring up tension, and in some cases the names of extremists will be made public.
There have been 230 barred since 2005 but their identities have only been revealed when they publicly complained about being excluded.
Smith is to reveal the full details of the plans in the next few days.
Commentators said those already blocked include religious extremists, certain animal rights activists and neo-Nazis, and holocaust deniers.
The radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed was banned from the UK following the July 7, 2005, terror attacks on the London transport system, when the former Home Secretary Charles Clarke used existing powers to exclude Mohammed as his presence was “not conducive to the public good”.
A Home Office official told the Sunday Mirror newspaper the measures were aimed at preventing potential trouble-makers from entering the country and those targeted will be placed on international watch lists.
The opposition Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne suggested the plans were inadequate and did not tackle those already living here or people preaching on the internet.
He said those affected were those who have already been refused entry to the UK, and cited 79 preachers had been already targeted.
“It doesn’t deal with the people who are already here or indeed the people who are preaching hate over the internet”, Huhne added.