Posted on 08/05/2005 8:40:48 AM PDT by Valin
Tony Blair is expected to give details this morning of proposals to widen the British Government's powers to deport and the block the entry of preachers and extremists who encourage terrorism in the UK.
The Prime Minister will not announce any new powers, rather a clarification and extension of rules that already allow Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, to remove individuals from Britain if they are deemed a security threat.
In the days after the London bombings, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Ian Blair, asked for new rules to proscribe "glorifying terrorism" and to make it easier to prosecute what he called "preachers of hate".
This morning, Sir Ian welcomed the proposed expansion of powers: "It may have been better if it was done before, but let’s do it now," he told GMTV.
Sir Ian also said that he believed that there was now more public support for rules to govern the behaviour of provocative preachers and extremists. In the past, critics have warned that preachers will be imprisoned and persecuted in their home countries if they are removed from Britain.
"One of the difficulties has been this idea about how can we deport people to places where they may suffer oppression," he said. "Well, I think the public mood is shifting. I’m sorry, but this is England, Britain, and we don’t want this fomenting of terrorism to go on."
In recent weeks, the Home Secretary has spoken of his intention to find new ways to "deal with those who foment terrorism or seek to provoke others to terrorist acts".
Last month, Mr Clarke told MPs that he was planning to use his existing powers "more widely and systematically" to stop dangerous preachers from entering Britain and to deport those already here.
The Home Secretary said he hoped to have the ability to remove individuals who come to Britain as visitors, students, workers and asylum applicants. Those who have already won asylum could have their right to remain in the UK overturned if they incited terrorism, he warned.
To enforce the increased powers, the Home Office will use a database of of individuals who have demonstrated "unacceptable behaviour" that encouraged terrorism. The database will be built from information from the police, Foreign Office and intelligence agencies .
The proposals are separate from the Government's new Counter Terrorism Bill, which will be put before Parliament in October, and will not require new legislation.
At today’s press conference in Downing Street, the Prime Minister is also expected to respond to the videotaped message of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command to Osama bin Laden, that was broadcast on al-Jazeera yesterday afternoon.
In the video, al-Zawahiri said that Britain was paying the price for supporting the United States in the war in Iraq and that the London bombings were a direct consequence to policies enacted by Mr Blair.
"Blair has brought you destruction to the heart of London, and he will bring more destruction, God willing," said the video.
Jabbing his finger at the camera and sitting next to a large gun, Zawahiri chided the British for rejecting the "truce" offered by bin Laden in 2004 and broadened al-Qaeda’s agenda to demand that the West give up all political and economic interests in the Muslim world.
Last night, President Bush reacted to the tape by calling the ideology and logic of al-Qaeda as "dark, dim, backwards".
At a press conference with the President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, Mr Bush said that Zawahiri's call for the US and the UK to withdraw from Iraq would not distract America from its mission in the Middle East.
"He’s saying, you know, leave," said Mr Bush, describing the video.
"As I have told the American people, the people like Zawahri have a ideology that is dark, dim, backwards," he said. "He’s threatening. They have come up against a nation that will defend itself."
"We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq," said the President, who is under increasing pressure to demonstrate that America has a plan to withdraw from Iraq.
Twenty-eight US soldiers have been killed in the country in the last four days and a new Associated Press poll shows that public approval of President Bush's handling of the war has hit a new low.
America's approval of Mr Bush’s management of the war in Iraq, which has been hovering at a rate of just over 40 per cent for most of the year, has now dipped to 38 per cent.
Ring,Ring,Ring.....
"Hello, this is the President.."
"Good Morning George, it's ole Eagle again.."
"Have you heard what Tony Blair is doing to throw Islamic hate-mongers out of his country?"
..click....
"Hello, George, are you there, hello?"...
Here's a cheap way to send them out of country. One round, back of the head, base of the skull. This terrorist activity won't stop until we run out of these guys or we kill enough for the others to get the message.
Those "preachers" shouldn't be deported. They should be arrested and silenced.
Bring back the old nape and bake option for hot spots!
Is this an update in the war on terror or a preschool report card?
George would do the same...(But how many militant clerics have gone on a speaking tirade in this country?)
England has a serious problem with militant clerics they have left alone, which has come back to haunt them.
Remember...we imprison the bad ones here...like that bozo that was charged with the initial WTC bombing, and the rest we have deported.
Plus all the Al-Qaeda cells we have broken up in California, Virginia, and such...
England has been slow to take action, which is why Blair's "actions" now are getting press.
While I agree [here comes the disagreement :-)] Blair has an easier time of it, Britan doesn't have a Bill of Rights to contend with. For better or worse we do.
OTOH if we did this it wouls empty a large number of mosques of their Imams. And that's a good thing...make that a VERY good thing.
These would work in the U. S. I hope GWB will do the same for our country.
Click here to look at the highlights of Mr. Blair's proposals.
Ring,Ring,Ring.....
"Hello, this is the President.."
"Good Morning George, it's ole Eagle again.."
"Have you heard what Tony Blair is doing to throw Islamic hate-mongers out of his country?"
..click....
"Hello, George, are you there, hello?"...
Britain does not have an ACLU to deal with.
And the Brits do not have as many rights as we do.
"Agreements with other countries, such as Jordan, to ensure people can be deported to their nations of origin without being tortured or ill-treated"
Frankly, as if we should give a !$@#!%#%# what happens to them!
"Review the threshold for gaining British citizenship and establish, with the Muslim community, a commission to advise how to better integrate parts of the community "presently inadequately integrated""
Oh, I hear weeping & knashing of teeth....they won't WANT to be told at all they mite want to conform more to Western Society. I can see the line forming for this commission....NOT!
Has anyone else noticed how far you have to read in this article before you come to the word "Muslim" or any other Islamic-related word? The article refers to "preachers," a term much more commonly used to describe Christian speakers. While I have seen articles that use the verb (for example, "preaching hate"), I have never seen Muslim hatemongers referred to as "preachers" before. Looks like a blatant attempt to propose equivalency. Under the wrong government, could be something even scarier.
Don't get me wrong; Britain is doing the right thing. It's just that a strategy like this must be making the wheels turn in certain hard-core leftists' heads.
Also, I was rather surprised that Rush did not talk much about this on his program. Has any of the conservative talk radio folks discussed this? I thought Mr. Blair's news conference was rather important. He sounded like he meant business.
Britain does not have an ACLU to deal with.
-----
And we should not either --- but this country is far less wise that Britain in many respects. Subversive organizations sould be closed down and put out of business. And frankly, I don't give a damn about their freakin' rights -- anti-American, pro-terrorist Communists should be hanging from trees.
It's about time. Since we are in a war with Islamofascism, deporting radical islamists makes sense.
I was listening to the BBC news this morning and, of couse, this was the number 1 story. But as you have noticed, the BBC just couldn't bring itself to say the word "Muslim". It was all foreigners, radicals, preachers of hate.
I was listening to the BBC news this morning and, of couse, this was the number 1 story. But as you have noticed, the BBC just couldn't bring itself to say the word "Muslim". It was all foreigners, radicals, preachers of hate.
I was talking to a friend yesterday and she was all upset about the casualties from Iraq. I told her that so far we've lost 2,300 people there in 2 1/2 years, that's about an 1 hour 20 minutes on D-Day.
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