Several of the moves require parliamentary approval; others can be enforced today but are expected to face court challenges. The measures were backed by the Labour and Conservative parties. They were criticized by Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, because they risked “inflaming tensions and alienating Muslims.”

Meanwhile, the police have now indicted three of the four individuals they say were involved in the July 21 events.

Several of the proposed measures would allow British authorities to victimize people on the basis of views they advocate. Blair said the government was going to ban three public political groups: Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the Saviour Sect, and al-Ghurabaa.

The Times reported some “disarray” in government circles over this ban. Contrary to what Blair had implied, new laws would have to be approved to implement such a ban, the paper reported.

“Hizb-ut-Tahrir is a nonviolent political party,” said the group’s spokesperson, Imran Waheed, the Associated Press reported. “Our members are all for political expression, not for violence.” He said the group would fight any ban through the courts.

At an August 7 Muslim Unity conference of 2,000 in Manchester, Mohammed Shafiq of the Ramadhan Foundation opposed the ban. “In terms of our values here in the UK, there are civil rights and liberties which give all groups a right to express their views,” he said.

The Muslim Council of Britain and Mohammed Naseem, chairman of Birmingham’s central mosque, strongly opposed the proposed ban and other measures, while Omar Farooq of the Islamic Society of Britain supported it.

At the press conference Blair said the government would soon detail new grounds for deportations, based on existing laws, on the basis of “fostering hatred, advocating violence to further a person’s beliefs, or justifying or validating such violence.”

The British government is barred by law from deporting individuals to countries where they may face torture or death. Government officials said they are seeking promises from several governments—including Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt—that those deported will not be mistreated. They said they reached such an agreement with Jordan.

At one point it was reported that British officials were considering charges of treason against three individuals—Omar Bakri Mohammed, Abu Izzadeen, and Abu Uzair—based on taped speeches and comments. This reportedly includes remarks by Bakri in defense of those who attack British troops in Afghanistan or Iraq. The government has since denied those reports.

If the new measures are implemented, “active engagement” with certain “websites, bookshops, networks, centres and particular organisations of concern” that government authorities label as “extremist” will become grounds for deportation.

Blair said a law would be introduced to prohibit British residents from “condoning terrorism.” Places of worship deemed centers for “fomenting extremism” would be closed.

Further proposals include: broader grounds to refuse asylum, expedited extradition, beefed-up border controls, and a review of the “threshold” for granting British citizenship.

Blair also seeks expanded use of house arrest against British citizens; a “significant” increase in police powers to detain “terrorist suspects” without charge; and broader powers to strip individuals of their citizenship.

The right-wing Sun called for imposing house arrest on George Galloway, a member of Parliament for the Respect Coalition, which includes the British Socialist Workers Party. It branded Galloway a “traitor” because he referred to the forces mounting attacks in Iraq on the occupying U.S. and British troops as “heroic.”

London’s Labour Party mayor, Kenneth Livingstone, said he supported laws banning groups that support “terrorist attacks” as long as they were worded “precisely.” Former Labour government minister John Denham, however, termed the proposed measures “half-baked ideas.”

At an August 4 rally organized by the Stop the War coalition, Galloway responded to the Sun’s accusations. Taking a nationalist position, he called members of the Blair government the “real traitors” to “this country, its interests, and the men and women who wear its uniform.”  
 
 
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