Today in the Telegraph Philip Johnston asks himself a question: "whatever happened to free speech"? He is of the view that the refusal to admit Dutch MP Geert Wilders to Britain yesterday marks a further retreat from his country's traditions of free speech.
The BBC's coverage of todays events now also features an interview that Geert Wilders gave by telephone while he was being detained at Heathrow Airport. The Freedom Party leader calls Gordon Brown the biggest coward in Europe and states that today has been a sad day for freedom of speech.
Watch an item by Sky News on Geert Wilders being denied entry into Britain below.
Geert Wilders has been denied entry into the United Kingdom. The Freedom Party leader was invited to show his film Fitna in the UK's House of Lords. Upon arrival at Heathrow Airport he was detained and told that he would not be allowed to enter Great Britain. "I am in a detention centre at Heathrow," Wilders told The Times. "They took my passport. I will not be allowed to enter the country. They will send me back within a few hours.”
An online poll on the website of British newspaper The Daily Mail shows that an overwhelming majority of Daily Mail readers feel Geert Wilders should be allowed to adress the House of Lords. The responses in the comment section below the Daily Mail's article on the Wilders ban are equaly critical of the British goverment's actions.
Read more …Daily Mail readers critical of British government