Quote:A far-right Dutch politician was denied entry to the UK yesterday, sparking a diplomatic row.

Geert Wilders, an outspoken anti-Islamist, was scheduled to visit London on Thursday for a screening of his controversial film Fitna, at the invitation of Lord Pearson, the Ukip peer.

The Home Office’s decision to refuse him entry because of his extreme views provoked Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch Foreign Secretary, to call David Miliband, his UK counterpart to protest at the decision.

"The fact that a Dutch parliamentarian is refused entry to another EU country is highly regrettable”, Mr Verhagen said. He revealed his conversation with Mr Miliband via a posting on his Twitter page.

It is understood that Mr Wilders was denied entry under EU law, which allows a member state to bar individuals if they constitute a threat to public policy, security or health.

Mr Wilders said that he received a letter from the British ambassador yesterday, telling him that he was not welcome because his visit would “threaten community harmony and therefore public security".

Mr Wilders told reporters: "I'll see what happens at the border. Let them put me in handcuffs."

The Home Office refused to comment on the case but a spokesperson 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 and that was the driving force behind tighter rules on exclusions for unacceptable behaviour that the Home Secretary announced in October last year."

Mr Wilders, the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party, has been under 24-hour police protection in the Netherlands since 2004. He faces prosecution for incitement to hatred and discrimination based on the content of Fitna (an Arabic term meaning "disagreement and division among people") and his calls for the Koran to be banned under a Dutch law which bans Mein Kampf. His film features verses from the Koran alongside images of terrorist attacks in New York, London and Madrid and calls on Muslims to remove "hate-preaching" verses from the Koran. It sparked violent protests in Indonesia and Pakistan and, after its release online last year, al-Qaeda issued a fatwa calling for Mr Wilders’s murder.

Fitna was originally to be screened in the House of Lords in January but was delayed after opposition from Muslim groups.

Lord Pearson insisted that the screening had been delayed “to allow time for clarification on issues concerning freedom of speech”. It was unclear last night whether the screening would go ahead without Mr Wilders.

The Home Office endorsed the Dutch government’s condemnation of the film, which it said “serves no constructive purpose”.

“The British Government has absolutely no connection with any screening of this film that may take place in the House of Lords or anywhere else in the UK,” the spokesperson said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk...709892.ece

This is actually an insult to Muslims. What the government is saying is that Muslim are so irrational, so uncontrollable, so likely to go insane over their religion being criticized that they will deny free movement to a person with a view that might upset them. In fact, this action is quite cowardly of the British government.