The exclusion of Geert Wilders, the Dutch MP, raises a disturbing question about Britain’s future. The financial and economic crisis may seem to threaten our institutions, even capitalism itself. But there is a deeper threat. That is the ignominious retreat of the British political class from liberal beliefs – such as the importance of freedom of speech.

The rhetoric is still liberal. But the reality is that we are served with a glutinous mixture of sentimentality, pandering and a crude form of utilitarianism. This emerges in the treatment of Mr Wilders, who was coming to London’s House of Lords for a screening of his film, Fitna . The reasons put forward to deny him entry reveal a sloppiness of thought and expression.