§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will discuss with other members of the European Economic Community the formation of a common policy on (a) entry into European Economic Community countries from outside the European Economic Community and (b) movement between European Economic Community member countries, designed to prevent or discourage the attendance at Nazi style, Ku Klux Klan or similar rallies, by persons from outside the country in which the rally is to be held.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesI will bear this suggestion in mind.
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Mrs. RenéeShort asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) why Mr. Duke was allowed to enter the United Kingdom;
(2) what action he intends to take to curtail Mr. Duke's stay;
(3) why Mr. Duke's name was not on the list of undesirable aliens connected with the Ku Klux Klan to be refused entry in accordance with his undertaking to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, North-East;
(4) what action he has taken to ensure that no other members of the Ku Klux Klan or any of its breakaway organisations will be allowed to enter the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he intends to inquire into the circumstances in which Mr. David Duke managed to enter Great Britain from the United States of America, despite the earlier assurance that he would not be allowed to enter, and into Mr. Duke's evasion of arrest at the Cunard Hotel on Saturday 5th March.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesI stated in reply to Questions by my hon. Friends the Members for Birmingham, Handsworth (Mr. Lee), Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Short) and Manchester, Blackley (Mr. Rose) on 16th February that I had made a personal direction under the Immigration Act 1971 that a Ku Klux Klan leader, Mr. Wilkinson, should be refused leave to enter if he attempted to come to the United Kingdom, and that cases of other members identified at the ports would be referred to the Home Office for consideration in the light of all the circumstances.—[Vol. 944, c. 291–2.] It would not be practicable to list all those in the United States of America who might regard themselves as members.
Mr. David Ernest Duke arrived in the United Kingdom on 2nd March. There was nothing to identify him to the immigration officer as a member of the Ku Klux Klan or any similar organisation and he was given leave to enter.
When his presence became known and it became clear that the purpose of his visit was calculated to foment racial disharmony I decided that it was undesirable for him to remain here. Accord- 110W ingly, a variation order has been made under the 1971 Act requiring him to leave the country. This has been served on him together with an explanation of his appeal rights.