Controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who made headlines worldwide with the release of his anti-Islam film Fitna, has been denied entry into the U.K., according to British reports.

Wilders had been invited to screen his 15-minute film at the House of Lords in London Thursday evening. Earlier this week, however, Britain's Home Office denied his entry request on the grounds that his visit could endanger public security.

Wilders left Amsterdam earlier on Thursday, stopping to chat with reporters at the airport and on the flight to London — including calling the British government "the biggest bunch of cowards in Europe" in an interview with the Times newspaper.

He has since been detained and questioned by immigration officials at Heathrow Airport about defying the ban, according to the BBC.

Wilders could be placed back on a return flight to Amsterdam.

This week, the politician blasted the ban as an attack on his right to free speech. The Dutch government also voiced its criticism of the decision, characterizing it as the U.K. barring the entry of a Dutch politician in order to speak to British colleagues.

In reference to the ban, a Home Office spokesman cited a European Union law, which allows member countries to refuse an EU citizen's entry if there are concerns over public policy, public security or public health.

Wilders released Fitna on the internet in March 2008, drawing widespread condemnation and protests in Muslim countries around the globe. The approximately 15-minute short film blends violent, graphic images of terrorist attacks with quotations from the Qur'an.

In interviews and in editorials, Wilders also frequently likened elements of the Muslim faith to Nazism and called the Qur'an "a fascist book."

In January, Amsterdam's Court of Appeal ordered the prosecution of Wilders for hate-speech over his film.