Cameron seeks 'hate preachers' ban

Mr Cameron accused Prime Minister Gordon Brown of dithering over the case of Islamist cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, following press reports that he is to be granted permission to come to London for medical treatment.

The Tory leader branded Mr al-Qaradawi - and the head of Hezbollah's TV station Ibrahim Moussawi, who recently spoke in Manchester - "dangerous and divisive" and said they should not be allowed in the country. And he called for a complete ban on Islamist political movements Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Hezbollah.

Speaking at the first meeting in London of a working group between the Conservatives and the main German centre-right party the CDU, Mr Cameron is due to say: "It's clear for reasons of our security that we must expel or refuse entry to those who preach hate, pit one faith against another and divide our society.

"So I call on the Government to confirm that it will not be giving al-Qaradawi permission to enter this country and that it will not repeat the mistake of last December and make clear that Moussawi is not welcome in the UK."

Mr Cameron will also say that Britain's national security and international credibility were harmed by a "failed" multiculturalist policy which allowed Muslim preachers to advocate values that run counter to the British way of life.

"For years, we left people in our midst preaching hatred and sowing division," he will say. "We now know what a mistake the 'Londonistan' approach was. It was wrong in theory and wrong in practice. It undermined our credibility abroad. And it led to dreadful results. But we don't seem to have learned our lesson.

"We are making the same mistakes again - allowing people to enter our country to spout hate. People like Ibrahim Moussawi, head of Hezbollah's viciously anti-Semitic TV station, Al-Manar. Despite (Conservative security spokeswoman) Pauline-Neville Jones asking the Home Secretary to refuse his entry to this country, he was allowed to speak in Manchester in December, and has been invited on a speaking tour of five British cities from the end of next month.

"And people like Yusuf al-Qaradawi. This is a man who, incidentally, Mayor Ken Livingstone calls the best hope for progress in Islam. He has been banned from the USA since 1999. He is opposed to secularism and believes that the penalty for homosexuality is death. And he has defended the use of terrorism in Israel and Iraq.

"Despite this, news reports say that it's been recommended to the Government that he be given permission to enter the country. I've said it before and I will say it again. People like al-Qaradawi and Moussawi are dangerous and divisive and should not be allowed in this country. Full stop."