Charles Clarke, the home secretary, has dropped a proposal to deport foreign extremists simply for expressing views “that conflict with the UK’s culture of tolerance”.
Mr Clarke on Wednesday published an expanded list of “unacceptable behaviours” for which foreign imams and radicals can be expelled or excluded from Britain, but has responded to concerns that the original proposals put out to consultation two weeks ago were too wide-ranging.
The list includes expressing views that justify, glorify or encourage terrorist violence, seek to provoke terrorist acts, foment other serious criminal activity or foster hatred that could lead to inter-community violence.
The government is also drawing up a data-base of foreign-born radicals, based both in the UK and overseas, who could be subject to the new expulsion and exclusion powers.
However, the government still faces big hurdles in deporting foreigners “not conducive to the public good” since many Islamic extremists come from countries with poor human rights records. Ministers are bracing themselves for a long legal battle in the courts over its crackdown.
Tony Blair has been under intense pressure to act on so-called preachers of hate after four British Muslim bombers killed themselves and 52 others in attacks in London on July 7.
The prime minister set out a dozen measures to tackle extremists suspected of encouraging or condoning terrorism earlier this month, saying “the rules of the game have changed”.
But ministers have come under fire from MPs from all sides for rushing out “half-baked ideas” in response to a tabloid newspaper campaign and for jeopardising the cross-party consensus that emerged in the aftermath of the July bombings.
In a statement, Mr Clarke said: “Individuals who seek to create fear, distrust and division in order to stir up terrorist activity will not be tolerated by the government or by our communities.”
He added that his expanded powers were “not intended to stifle free speech or legitimate debate about religions or other issues”.
The Home Office has already placed 10 foreign Islamist extremists in detention pending deportation after concluding that Britain was close to extracting pledges from their home countries that the men will not be harmed on their return.
However, Britain has so far only concluded an agreement with Jordan and is still in protracted negotiations with nine other countries, including Lebanon and Algeria.
Human rights groups believe such memorandums are worthless and will be dismissed by judges reviewing expulsion orders.
The Home Office has already banned Omar Bakri Mohammed, a Syrian cleric, after saying he would not tell police about fellow Muslims who were planning terrorist attacks. He is the first person to be excluded under the new crackdown.
The ten men detained pending deportation include Abu Qatada, a cleric convicted in 2000 in absentia in Jordan and sentenced to 15 years in jail on charges of conspiring to attack US and Israel tourists.
Mr Clarke acknowledged the sensitivities around the new powers and pledged to use them in a “measured and targeted way”.
He explained that he removed “the expression of views that the government considers to be extreme and that conflict with the UK’s culture of tolerance” from the list because other behaviours were “sufficient to meet the government’s aims”.
Civil liberties campaigners had argued that such a catch-all definition could stifle free speech and lead to the deportation of innocent foreign nationals.
