TONY Blair was under pressure yesterday to deport a Muslim cleric accused of supporting child suicide bombers and anti-Semitism even as the government moved to make inciting religious hatred a criminal offence.
Yusuf al Qaradawi's week-long visit to the UK erupted in controversy yesterday with the Tory leader highlighting his alleged links to terrorism.
Michael Howard used prime minister's questions to ask why the government had failed to stop the cleric, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, entering the country.
He challenged Tony Blair: "When I was home secretary, I used my powers to ban people whose presence here was not conducive to the public good. Why doesn't your home secretary do the same?"
The prime minister said David Blunkett had already indicated the situation was under strict review.
He told MPs: "We are totally opposed, as is everyone, to people coming to this country and using it as a platform for views in support of terrorism or extremism of any sort at all.
"We have to be sure, however, that if someone is excluded from this country that they are excluded in a way that is lawful."
The row broke out as Mr Blunkett unveiled legislation in England and Wales which could be deployed against Islamic fundamentalists, as well as other extremists, who preach against Christian society, or attacks in the opposite direction.
Mr Blunkett is to make inciting religious hatred a criminal offence. The new crime is likely to be closely modelled on the existing one of inciting racial hatred which carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment south of the border.
Mr Blunkett said that it would be a "two-way street", adding: "It applies equally to far-right evangelical Christians as to extremists in the Islamic faith."
He said the new offence will be introduced as soon as possible.
However, in an unrepentant interview broadcast last night Mr al Qaradawi, an Egyptian, did little to stem the growing controversy by repeating his support for suicide bombers.
In an interview on BBC Newsnight, filmed some weeks before his arrival in the UK, he said that such acts were justified under Islam as a form of holy war.
"This is not suicide, it is martyrdom in the name of God," the cleric said.
Asked whether these views extended to the situation in Iraq, he said: "If the Iraqis can confront the enemy, there's no need for these acts of martyrdom. If they don't have the means, acts of martyrdom are allowed."
On the killing of innocent women and children, he said: "Israeli women are not like women in our society because Israeli women are militarised. Secondly, I consider this type of martyrdom operation as an indication of the justice of Allah almighty.
"Allah is just through his infinite wisdom. He has given the weak what the strong do not possess and that is the ability to turn their bodies into bombs like the Palestinians do."
Mr Al Qaradawi is said to encourage women and children suicide bombers, to have sought the destruction of Israel and to believe that husbands should beat "disobedient" wives.
He also said the beheading of Nick Berg, the American hostage, by Islamic militants in Iraq had to be seen "in the right context". The cleric has been banned from entering the US since 1999.
His views provoked anger among MPs. David Winnick, the Labour member for Walsall North, said: "This country is contaminated by the presence of such a creature. He should be kicked out.
"It's remarkable how quickly the law can act and I hope we can act quickly with this person.
"I hope the message will go out loud and clear that we will not tolerate outright racists in Britain."
Mr al Qaradawi arrived in London on Monday to attend a number of events, including a conference next Monday when speakers will debate the right of Muslim girls to wear the hijab in British schools.
Fiona Mactaggart, a Home Office minister, has withdrawn her support for the Muslim women's conference because the controversial cleric was the guest of honour.
Mr al Qaradawi might also address the Finsbury Park mosque, where the imprisoned cleric Abu Hamza used to preach.
The Muslim Association of Britain, who invited Mr al Qaradawi, insisted that the cleric was one of the Muslim world's most respected scholars and that a "vile attempt" was being made by Islamaphobes and right-wing zealots to widen the gap between Muslims and the West.
On the cleric's support for suicide bombing, a spokesman said: "It's not murder, it's self-defence.
"What do you expect the Palestinians to do?
"It's a cheap shot by the Zionist lobby."