Convicted terrorist council candidate said Muslims should not have Jewish friends

A convicted terrorist running to become a councillor in Birmingham told an interviewer last year that Muslims should not have Christians or Jews as friends – with Sharon Osbourne considering standing as a candidate against him.

Shahid Butt, was jailed in Yemen in 1999 for his part in a terror plot to attack targets including the local British consulate. He returned to Britain in 2003.

As reported by the Mail on Sunday, Butt was featured in a Youtube video in 2025 in which he said: “Allah says in the Koran do not take the Jews or Christians as your friends and protectors.” When questioned about this he said he was quoting the Koran, that he worked with local churches and that he was “not antisemitic as I believe Jews are my cousins”.

Butt vehemently opposed the Maccabi Tel Aviv match against Aston Villa which took place last year in Birmingham, urging “every local Muslim” to attend protests against the match but not to bring knives, guns or machetes, also saying that “you don’t need to hide your face  – unless you’ve got a bit of a sensitive job or whatever and you’re worried about the repercussions or whatever.”

The 60-year old, who has previously worked as part of the Home Office Prevent scheme and sat on the West Midlands Anti-Terrorism Steering Committee, was announced as a candidate last week by Ahmed Yakoob, founder of the “Independent Candidate Alliance”. In 2024 Yakoob ran for election in Birmingham Ladywood, the constituency held by Shabana Mahmood, receiving 12,137 votes to her 15,558. Since then Mahmood has become the Home Secretary, while Yakoob is due to stand trial in 2027 over allegations of money laundering.

Meanwhile, Sharon Osbourne, who was married to Birmingham rock star Ozzie Osbourne for more than 40 years until his death last July, announced that she was considering running against Butt for the council seat, in the Sparkhill ward in central Birmingham.

Sharon, whose father was music promoter Don Arden (born Harry Levy), responded to a video on Butt saying “‘This has nothing to do with racism. I think I’m gonna move to Birmingham and put my name down for the ballot to be on the council”, subsequently adding “I’m serious”.

Sparkhill ward, which is understood to be 70% Muslim, is currently represented by two Labour councillors. One – Rashad Mahmood, was among the more than 250 Muslim Labour councillor who signed a letter to the government in 2024 urging them “to meet our moral obligation by suspending all arms sales to Israel until such a time that international humanitarian law is observed and respected.” The other, Nicky Brennan, announced last year that she would be standing for a different ward in the city instead.