A prominent Member of Parliament is demanding to know how a Sunni Muslim preacher with a history of inciting religious hatred can be allowed to enter Britain.
Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden, spoke out after Syed Muzaffar Shah Qadri, who is so extreme he is banned from preaching in Karachi in Pakistan, was slated for a tour of Britain this month.
Qadri was due to speak at a mosque in Falkirk in Scotland last week but the invitation was withdrawn after protests.
In addition, Bolton News reported that he will not be preaching in Bolton as claimed. His own Facebook page also appears to indicate he is currently still in Pakistan.
McDonagh told Christian Today: "My concern is that people with a history incitement of hatred against others, such as the Ahmadiyya community, are being let into this country.
"I have worked to try and find out how individuals like Qadri have been able to enter this country, apparently without any issue.
"I have written to the Home Office, and hosted a debate on this issue earlier this year – only to be stonewalled by the Home Office, as the answer to my Parliamentary Question demonstrates. The UK's national security should be paramount to the government."
The Observer reported on Sunday that it was feared that Qadri, who has praised the murder of a politician, will be visiting the UK this month where he would incite hatred between Muslims.
The Clarion Project reported that Qadri was due to speak at the Falkirk Central mosque, but after a public outcry and an expose on the imam was published by the Sunday Post, mosque leaders dumped him.
"Whether or not the mosque was aware of the extremism of the Pakistani cleric is certainly a question. At a time when concerns of extremism are foremost in the public discourse, one would hope that speakers at mosques are vetted before invitations are extended. However, the fact remains that because of good journalism and public outcry, the invitation was cancelled," Clarion commented, asking: "The real question is, why was someone like Qadri allowed entrance to the UK in the first place?"
Clarion also notes: "The Home Office recently denied entry to the UK to three prominent archbishops from the Middle East. Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf, and Timothius Mousa Shamani and Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh, the Archbishops of Mosul, the Nineveh valley, and Homs and Hama in Syria, respectively, were barred from attending an event inaugurating the first Syriac Orthodox Cathedral in the UK."
In a speech earlier this year, McDonagh said: "With extremism on the rise, and increasing threats to our national security, tightening up UK entry clearance procedures should be top of our priority. But sadly, we have increasingly taken for granted that our borders are policed and secure from non-UK threats."
She added: "I have no reservation in saying that inadequate Home Office entry clearance procedures are allowing entry of individuals who pose a direct threat to our democracy and our social cohesion – and I will be highlighting why it is so urgent that the Home Office tackles this immediate problem now.
"As a side-point, it is extremely ironic that while individuals who spread hate are allowed into the UK, every MP will be aware of large number of completely law-abiding Pakistani citizens refused entry clearance to attend weddings, funerals and other important family events – also as a result of problems around Home Office entry clearance."
She warned: "The UK Ahmadi community, and the very fabric of our democracy, is under threat, now more than ever."
She called for the Home Office to take seriously the "deep flaws" she said are jeopardising national security and social cohesion.
The Home Office told Christian Today: "We do not routinely comment on individual cases."
