The Mail then and now: more hypocrisy

The Daily Mail editorial, 12 Feb 2009, on banning of judge-wig-haired Geert Wilders from the UK:

The Mail holds no brief for Geert Wilders, the Dutch right-winger whose rabid views on the Koran are, understandably, deeply insulting to Muslims. Yet what does Home Secretary Jacqui Smith think she is doing, barring him from the UK, where he was to visit the Lords as a guest of Ukip’s eccentric Lord Pearson?...Miss Smith, with her double standards and authoritarianism, has brought shame on Britain’s reputation for free speech.

Daily Mail columnist Simon Heffer, 10 July 2004:

Let us deal with the cleric: Yusuf Al-Qaradawi should never have been admitted to this country.

Daily Mail editorial, 8 July 2004:

The irony is sublime. On the very day the Home Secretary unveils plans to outlaw incitement to religious hatred - a proposal designed to protect Muslims - a fanatical Islamist zealot arrived in London. "You are truly, truly welcome" gushed mayor Ken Livingstone, as he greeted Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the venomous, hate-filled, murder-supporting Muslim cleric...He is banned from America and Egypt on suspicion of terrorist links. His presence here is offensive not only to Jews, women and gays, but to anyone who believes in our right to defend ourselves against extremism when the terrorist threat is very real. Yet Mr Livingstone treats him as a hero. Worse - despite the fact that the US enforces a ban - the Home Office says he can only be kept out if the security services warn that he poses a threat.

The latter is not quite saying al-Qaradawi shouldn't be allowed in, but it's damn close. How come it's a disgrace to let the Muslim guy in, but a threat to the UK's moral fabric to let the rabid anti-Islam guy in?