So-called Extremists banned

Tougher measures to prevent extremists entering the UK are to be announced by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

They are designed to stop so-called preachers of hate stirring up tension, and in some cases the names of extremists will be made public.

There have been 230 barred since 2005 but their identities have only been revealed when they publicly complained about being excluded. 

Ms Smith is to reveal the full details of the plans in the next few days.

The BBC's Nick Ravenscroft said those already blocked include neo-Nazis, holocaust deniers, certain animal rights activists and religious extremists.

The radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed was banned from the UK following the 7/7 terror attacks in London in 2005, when the former Home Secretary Charles Clarke used existing powers to exclude Mr Mohammed as his presence was "not conducive to the public good".

A Home Office official told the Sunday Mirror: "These measures are aimed at preventing anyone who will stir up tensions in the UK from entering the country.

"We have not named them in the past but now, when it was in the public interest, we will.

"They will also be placed on international watch lists which tell other countries that they have been banned and why they were not allowed in.

"Coming to the UK is a privilege. We don't want people abusing that by stirring up tensions."