Wilders hails his arrival in UK as victory for free speech

(REUTERS)

A Dutch far-right MP who has called for the Koran to be banned has described his arrival in Britain as a "victory for free speech".

Geert Wilders, the leader of the Freedom Party, praised the decision by an immigration tribunal to overturn a government decision to ban him from entering the country. Jacqui Smith, the former home secretary, had blocked his entry, suggesting he could incite racial hatred.

Mr Wilders intended to hold a press conference near Parliament yesterday but was forced to speak from a secure room after he was targeted by a group of Muslim protesters. "I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel the more Islam we get in our societies the less freedom we get," he said. He added he would be showing his film, Fitna, in the House of Lords during his next trip to Britain.