UK keeping Muslim Brotherhood under ‘very close review’ amid calls for ban, says Starmer
EXCLUSIVE: PM confirms to Jewish News government closely monitoring the Brotherhood as pressure mounts for formal ban on the group
The UK is keeping the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood under “very close review”, Keir Starmer has confirmed to Jewish News, amid growing calls for the government to proscribe the organisation.
The Brotherhood – whose core ideology seeks to establish states governed by Sharia law and whose critics accuse it of radicalising Muslims in the West – is already banned in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE.
Last month, Donald Trump signed an executive order as his administration prepared to designate the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation.
An earlier 2015 government review by the UK government had concluded that while the organisation was not directly involved in terrorism in the UK, its ideology and activities were a “possible indicator of extremism”.
But at the time, this report did not go as far as to call for proscription.
Now, with growing evidence that Muslim Brotherhood supporters have arrived in Britain to escape bans elsewhere, there are growing calls for the UK to follow suit and proscribe the organisation outright.
Asked by Jewish News about this prospect, the prime minister said: “As you know, we keep these issues under review. We don’t comment on what we might do in the future, but we do keep these things under very close review. ”
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was asked in the Commons about her concerns over whether the Brotherhood and Iran were seeking to “deliberately foment extremism” that was leading to a “rejection of ceasefire efforts by the Sudanese regime”.
She said she was “deeply concerned” about escalation from both warring parties – the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – Cooper added she was “deeply worried about the risks of further atrocities”.
The Brotherhood’s presence in the UK is linked to various affiliated groups, some of which operate charities and community organisations, while others deny any affiliation with the organisation.
The 2015 review noted that some individuals linked to the Brotherhood have supported extremist acts, such as suicide bombings by Hamas, and that its ideology may be at odds with British values like democracy and individual liberty.
More recently, there have been discussions about redefining “extremist” organisations to include groups like the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), which has been accused of being affiliated with the Brotherhood – a claim it denies.
An official 2015 UK government review of the Muslim Brotherhood named MAB among the UK-based groups “dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood”.
An article on MAB’s “historical roots and background” in a 2002 edition of its own Inspire newspaper explicitly linked it to the Muslim Brotherhood (“whose teachings inspire people the world over”). This article no longer appears on any of MAB’s public platforms.
In response to this article, MAB told Jewish News: “The Muslim Association of Britain is a British organisation operating entirely within the British Isles, with no presence elsewhere. It is not affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Critics argue the Brotherhood’s ideology and activities are at odds with British values, while others are concerned about attempts to define it as extremist, citing freedom of speech and religious freedom concerns.
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Cairo in 1928 and is one of the world’s largest and best-known Islamic political groups.
It has long been maintained that it is a peaceful organisation that wishes to participate in politics democratically, but is considered a major threat by many autocratic governments in the Middle East and North Africa.
Ghanem Nuseibeh, chair of the Muslims Against Antisemitism, has said: “Its self-professed aim is the establishment of a state governed by Sharia law under a caliphate and its core values include antisemitism and anti-Christian sentiments.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said that his party will ban the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation if it is elected.
Responding to moves by Trump to ban it, a statement issued on behalf of the group said: “The Muslim Brotherhood has a clean record and a clear history and is not concerned with any accusations of terrorism.
“The group has always been, and remains, an integral part of the Egyptian national fabric. It has never resorted to violence to attain power nor called for it.
“No acts harming state security or sovereignty have ever been recorded against it throughout its history.
“The group founded a political party that won the first free and transparent parliamentary and presidential elections in modern Egyptian history, in which President Dr. Mohamed Morsi was elected.
“His year in office was a year distinguished by civil liberties, as acknowledged by international institutions, including the report presented to the UK House of Commons in 2015, which affirmed that the group acts as a barrier against extremist currents.”
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