Preachers "intent on promoting extreme ideologies" are set to be barred from entering the UK thanks to a new taskforce established to "clamp down on hate", the government has announced.
The taskforce, using expertise from the Home Office, Foreign Office, and Department for Levelling Up and Housing, will "identify prominent extremists overseas who could pose a risk to public safety in the UK", the government said.
As well as abroad, authorities will seek to "build a picture of prominent overseas extremists who intend to travel to this country" through working in communities in the UK.
Alongside individuals, the government said it would target organisations in the UK "attempting to sponsor visas for dangerous individuals", threatening them with having their sponsorship licences revoked.
The new measures would specifically target extremists and seeks to curtail hate preachers' (like Abu Hamza, pictured left) efforts to spread divisive rhetoric
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The Home Secretary, James Cleverly, referenced the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas as a "reason to do more", while the government statement pointed to Rishi Sunak's March 1 speech decrying extremism as a motivation behind preventing people "who seek to undermine our shared values" entering the country.
In the PM's speech, he told the nation that "we must face down the extremists" which he said are spreading a poison throughout the country.
He said they want Britons to doubt themselves and their history, blaming the UK and the West for being "solely responsible for the world's ills".
While Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: "It is easier than ever for extremists around the world to spread poisonous, extremist ideologies from afar.
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The Foreign Secretary called on the UK to use its "international expertise and partnerships" to crack down on hate
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"It is therefore right that we use our international expertise and partnerships to fight back against those determined to sow division and to stop them coming to the UK, as we work to uphold the core British values of freedom, democracy, and respect for the rule of law."
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: "The UK already has some of the most sophisticated mechanisms for stopping foreign extremists from entering the UK, but since October 7 it has become clear that we must do more.
"That is why we are establishing a new joint taskforce with the FCDO and DLUHC to bolster our approach to tackling foreign extremists and prevent them coming to the UK to spread their vile narratives."
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said the taskforce would stop "hateful individuals" from "ever reaching our border"
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Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said: "There's no place in the UK for foreign nationals who spread hate and promote extremist ideologies.
"This taskforce will deliver a step-change in our ability to identify these hateful individuals, and stop them from ever reaching our border.
"We will not apologise for defending our country’s fundamental values and principles. This new taskforce will help to do exactly that."
