Protesters greet Dutch far-right MP

Police held back a crowd of Muslim demonstrators as Geert Wilders met Ukip peer Lord Pearson opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Explaining his controversial views on Islam, he said: "I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel that the more Islam that we get in our societies, the less freedom that we get."

The leader of the Dutch Freedom Party was allowed into Britain after overturning a Government decision to bar him from the country. It was feared that his outspoken views on Islam could spark religious violence, but the case was rejected by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal on Tuesday.

Mr Wilders, 46, who wants the Koran banned, insisted: "I am not extreme. I am not a racist either."

He has been under 24-hour protection for the past five years after receiving death threats over his views. The controversial figure had planned a press conference on College Green opposite the Houses of Parliament, but this was hastily moved inside a nearby building when the protesters emerged.

Mr Wilders opened the meeting by saying: "I would like to start by quoting one of the great British writers, George Orwell, who once said 'if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear'." He said oppression of homosexuals and journalists in some Islamic countries is "retarded" and he is fighting for the rights of non-Muslims. The politician said he wants to return to the UK to screen his short film Fitna, which criticises the Koran as a "fascist book".

Lord Pearson, who invited Mr Wilders to Britain, said his arrival was "a celebration of the victory of freedom of speech over those who would prevent it in this country, particularly the Islamists, the violent Jihadists who are on the march across the world and in the UK".

The visit saw protesters brandishing banners saying "Sharia is the solution, freedom go to hell" and "Geert Wilders deserves Islamic punishment". The demonstrators said Mr Wilders was an "enemy of Islam", and called for Sharia law in the Netherlands. He faces allegations in his home country of inciting racial hatred.

Abu Muaz, who said he was from a group called Islam For UK, said: "If I were to say some of the things he has said, I would be arrested under the Terrorism Act. But because there is a war on Muslims, he gets an easy ride."