Keir Starmer should do more to stop radical Islamists coming to Britain rather than focusing on celebrities like Kanye West, a former Tory minister said today.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood yesterday blocked the rapper from entering Britain to perform at Wireless Festival because his presence would ‘not be conducive to the public good’.
Organisers of the festival cancelled the event in London‘s Finsbury Park less than an hour after it emerged West would be blocked and said it would refund ticketholders.
Former environment secretary Sir Ranil Jayawardena condemned West’s anti-Semitic outbursts but suggested more focus should be paid to barring and deporting Islamists who pose a greater threat to the UK.
‘I’m all for Britain and the British government flexing its muscles to control who we have in this country if their presence is not going to be conducive to the public good,’ he told GB News.
‘Shabana Mahmood seems to be doing a very good job of toughening up our laws in the face of huge opposition from her own back benches.
‘But the question I would pose is if we’re going to stop Kanye West coming to this country, then why do we not also stop more of the Islamic hate preachers and others from entering and doing what they want to do?’
Ms Mahmood has banned several Islamist preachers from entering the UK in recent months, including Shadee Elmasry who defended Hamas in the wake of the October 7 terror attack on Israel.
However, concerns have repeatedly been raised about foreign extremists arriving in the UK via illegal routes – including on small boats across the Channel – before using human rights laws to avoid deportation.
Some 170 people who pose a threat to public safety are currently being housed under restrictions across the country, government documents revealed late last year.
More than half of these individuals were reported to ‘have been involved in terrorism or extremism-related activities’, with some subjected to 24-hour surveillance.
Currently failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals are avoiding being deported back to their home countries after claiming a right to family life.
This right is set out under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, of which the UK remains a member.
Ms Mahmood has promised an overhaul of human rights laws and tighter controls on immigration, but is facing a revolt from Labour backbenchers led by Angela Rayner.
Sir Ranil said needed to take ‘tougher’ action against people who have arrived in Britain via illegal routes.
‘Clearly it’s also very important to differentiate between British citizens and people who are not,’ he said.
‘And clearly a British citizen who believes terrible things and preaches terrible things still has a right to be here, whether we like it or not.
‘But we should be tougher in taking action against people who are here despite not having permission.’
Pressure had been mounting on the Government to ban West over his over his anti-Semitic behaviour, which included releasing a song called Heil Hitler and selling a swastika T-shirts.
Live Nation, the biggest concert promoter in the world, spent months of planning and millions of dollars on their gamble on rehabilitating the performer.
Executives from the huge global company, which looks after the O2 stadia in the UK and festivals including The Isle of Wight, Reading and Leeds, flew out from LA to see West play in Mexico last month – to woo him to come to Europe.
A source told the Daily Mail: ‘He asked for and got $15million (£11.4million) to play those three nights at Wireless. At that late point they still hadn’t secured a headline act.
‘Live Nation should be able to get all $15million back as their contracts say that it is the responsibility of the artist to get a visa. Because the decision was made by the Home Secretary they believe that they can get their money back.
‘They think it’s not as big a disaster as it could have been but, good luck getting Kanye to pay you back.’
West, 48, applied for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) on Monday and this was initially granted as Wireless is on a list of permit-free festivals whose performers do not require a work visa.
However after the Home Secretary yesterday intervened to block his entry organisers cancelled the entire event, which had been due to take place in July.
After the event was pulled, Sir Keir said that West ‘should never have been invited to headline Wireless’.
He added: ‘This Government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of anti-Semitism.
‘We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.’
