Blair vows hard line on fanatics

BBC ^

[traumer]

Tony Blair has outlined a raft of plans to extend powers to deport or exclude foreigners who encourage terrorism. The UK can already exclude or deport those who pose a threat to security and Mr Blair said he also wanted to clamp down on those who advocated terror.

The prime minister said he was prepared to amend human rights laws to make deportations more straightforward.

But Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said Mr Blair's announcements would put the cross-party consensus under strain. The measures came as Scotland Yard confirmed they had arrested two more people in London earlier this week in connection with the 21 July attempted bombings.

It brings the total of people still in custody over the bomb attempts to 17 - three of whom have been charged.

Liberties fears

On the new anti-terror package, Mr Kennedy warned that plans to ban Muslim organisations, powers to close mosques and deport people who "visit particular bookshops and websites" risked "inflaming tensions and alienating people". - Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty, said Mr Blair has attacked key human rights and would jeopardise national unity.

PLANNED MEASURES Home secretary to consider deporting any foreigner involved in listed extremist centres and websites Make justifying or glorifying terrorism anywhere an offence Automatically refuse asylum to anyone with anything to do with terrorism Examine calls for police to be able to hold terror suspects for longer before pressing charges Use more control orders against British terror suspects Create a list of preachers who will be kept out of the UK

Measures at-a-glance Analysis: Blair's balancing act

Conservative shadow home secretary David Davis welcomed the broad thrust of the proposals on exclusions and deportations but he said the consultation period was very short.

Mr Davis said: "It is vital that the home secretary is able to use his powers to deport or exclude non-UK citizens who threaten our national security - we have been calling for him to use these for some time."

London has been nicknamed "Londonistan" - centre for militant Islam - by some critics who believe the UK has been too liberal towards radical clerics.

At the final news conference before his summer break, Mr Blair said British hospitality had been abused and people should know the "rules of the game are changing".

"People now understand that when we warned of the terrorist threat it wasn't scaremongering it was real, he said.

Parliament recall?

Among the planned changes, Mr Blair said people would be refused asylum if they had been involved in terrorism.

A one-month consultation would be held on the new grounds for excluding and deporting people - something which does not require new legislation.

HAVE YOUR SAY Our hospitality has been abused so we need to take action to safeguard our citizens Lucinda Ball, London, UK

Send us your comments

Mr Blair said Parliament might be brought back from the summer recess early to discuss other measures.

These will include advocating violence to further a person's belief, justifying or validating such violence, or fostering hatred.

Banned groups

The Hizb ut Tahrir organisation and Al-Muhajiroun - or its successor group - are to be banned, Mr Blair announced.

"We will also examine the grounds for proscription to widen them and put forward proposals in the new legislation," he said.

Imran Waheed of Hizb ut Tahrir said his group would fight any ban and insisted they were "non-violent".

Ayman al-Zawahri in the latest video on al-Jazeera

Clips from the tape Text of al-Zawahri statement

The Muslim Council of Britain said the ban would be "counter productive".

Mr Blair said British people were tolerant but "there is also a determination that this very tolerance and determination should not be abused by a small fanatical minority and anger that it has".

On Thursday al-Qaeda's number two threatened new attacks on London and blamed the prime minister for the 7 July bombings, which killed 56.

Mr Blair said the British people knew how to deal with such comments, which had been made by those supporting the killing of innocent people in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair argued it would have been better to bring in the new measures at an earlier date but said he was glad action was being taken now.

[Paleo Conservative]

Why not chop off their heads and display them at the Tower of London?

[The South Texan]

Hello. American politicians. Are you listening?

[TAdams8591]

It's about time!

[sinanju]

As has been noted in other articles the PM is going to have to take on wife Cherie (taxpayer-funded "human-rights" lawyer and defender of pedophiles, etc.) over this issue. The brits foolishly adopted the EU human rights standard which won't even allow them to ship hate preachers and terror suspects back to their own countries for fear of rough handling.

[traumer]

England's getting tougher than the US.... UNBELIEVABLE !

[Die_Hard Conservative Lady]

Geroge Bush, could learn something from PM Blair...

[traumer]

The Muslim Council of Britain said the ban would be "counter productive"...

[sure_fine]

"And even when people are coming here, staying here carries with it a duty. That duty is to share and support the values that sustain the British way of life.
"Those that break that duty and try to incite hatred or engage in violence against our country and its people have no place here."

http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200508/de08170f-0039-446a-a919-1e64e8d8e830.htm

....... just wish Bush would say them

[Shawndell Green]

Back to their roots!

[diverteach]

Sad thing may be that why Bush hasn't taken this kind of a stance is he knows that the current courts will side with the ACLU when they argue that it violates thier freedom of religion.

[R.W.Ratikal]

British Prime Minister Tinkly Blair is not engaged in the "Battle for Britain." It might be too late. Too many Third world and Middle East have nots have already moved into Britain.

Blair is showing the kind of leadership I wish we could see in America. Our problem is not as great as Britain's but it might soon become as great.

Without further delay we must:

Declare a moratorium on immigration for 50- 75 years.

Deport all illegal aliens.

Seal the borders by bringing home our troops to patrol our borders and protect our people.

Cut off foreign aid to all nations suspected of harboring or helping terrorists.

Put the economic squeeze on France, Germany and Russia.

Uphold the U. S. Constitution over the U.N. Charter.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

The adage once again holds true, that: "A conservative is just a liberal who has not yet been mugged." Appears Blair just got mugged.

[patriciaruth]

Hello. American politicians. Are you listening?

It would be fun if President Bush started advocating some tougher measures, and libs started calling him "Tony's poodle"

Seriously, we had a tough time getting an extension of the Patriot Act through.

I remember Ronald Reagan writing about Margaret Thatcher that once she convinced Britons that conservative policies work (by showing them the American recovery under Reagan), she was able to pass much more extensive legislation that he could, as Prime Ministers automatically have a majority in Parliament, while Presidents don't enjoy automatic support, even from their own party.

[patriciaruth]

I think you got that adage wrong.

A conservative is a mugged liberal.

Or a liberal is a conservative who hasn't been mugged yet.

[patriciaruth]

Top three priorities for second term:

Judicial appointments.

Judicial appointments.

Judicial appointments.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

"Deport all illegal aliens."

Damned odd, there have been more murders committed by illegal aliens since 9-11, than the terr perps did on 9-11.

In Los Angeles alone, 1700 warrants issued for illegal murderer's, along with many, many, thousands of warrants for illegals who have done other violent crimes.

The leftists alway cry, "if it even saves one life," turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the illegal murderers.

Since 9-11 the US has went to war with, defeated and occupied two countries and spent billions, but yet the pols that be refuse to protect us against the violence committed by the illegals.

I guess so long as the illegals murder, rape, assault, steal, and commit their crimes by ones and twos, then flee back to the loving arms of the Mexican Mafioso government (where there is no deportation of Mexicans to face American justice if the perps face life or the death penalty) it is no big deal to the bastards we elect to protect.

There is something evil to come this way from otherwise law abiding citizens who will someday take the law into their own hands. After all, they will just be doing what the powers that be, refuse to do.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Mox nix.

[usurper]

Sad thing may be that why Bush hasn't taken this kind of a stance is he knows that the current courts will side with the ACLU when they argue that it violates thier freedom of religion.

Actually, the executive branch has substantial constitutional authority when it comes to the regulation of immigration. The AG has the authority to rule any group of immigrants as “enemy aliens” and remove them. It’s already in the law.