I welcome the decision taken by the Home Secretary this week to proscribe Hezbollah in its entirety, which is a step I have been calling on the Home Office to take for some time.
Hezbollah is a violent organisation with outrageous, anti-Semitic views and I have received correspondence from a number of constituents calling for Hezbollah to be banned from the UK in its entirety.
I have personally lobbied the Home Secretary on the fact that Hezbollah considers its military and non-military activities indivisible and am pleased that both the military and political wings of the organisation will now be proscribed under our anti-terror legislation. Membership of any part of Hezbollah will now be a criminal offence and the police will have more powers to tackle those who fly the gun-emblazoned flag of Hezbollah on our streets.
This decision sends a strong message that the warped ideologies of ruthless groups like Hezbollah have no place in our society and makes clear that the Government is committed to ensuring that terrorist groups cannot dodge proscription in the UK.
