Muslim Council of Britain could be among groups identified as extremist

The Muslim Council of Britain, Palestine Action and Muslim Engagement and Development could be among groups identified as extremist under government plans to broaden the definition of extremism.

On Saturday, The Telegraph revealed that ministers are to create a broader definition of extremism to enable universities, councils and other public bodies to crack down on a wider range of Islamist and Right-wing groups.

Michael Gove will unveil the plans, enabling the Government and public bodies to bar groups from venues or campuses and block funding if they are judged to be promoting extremist ideology that “undermines” or “overturns” British values, as early as next week.

The Communities Secretary is concerned that the current definition of extremism is too narrow and allows Islamist and Right-wing groups to “get away” with behaviour that stirs racial and religious hatred, threatens communities and divides society.

It is understood that officials have drawn up a list of organisations likely to be captured by the new definition, including the Muslim Council of Britain, Palestine Action and Muslim Engagement and Development.

Final names on list under review
Mr Gove is said to be keen to publish a list, although the final names are under review because of legal concerns. One insider was sceptical that the Muslim Council of Britain would be included in the final version.

The Government has a policy of non-engagement with the organisation over its alleged association with extremism, but Whitehall departments have still worked with it and given funds.

The Ministry of Defence has used the council to appoint imams in the military. The police have worked with leading figures from the organisation such as Mohammed Kozbar, the chairman of Finsbury Park Mosque, who praised Hamas as “martyrs of the resistance”.

Last year, more than three-quarters of funding for the Muslim Council of Britain Charitable Foundation – a total of £326,000 – came through Kickstart, a government scheme to get young people into work by part-funding salary costs.

Palestine Action is committed to closing down Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, while Muslim Engagement and Development, a non-governmental organisation, campaigns against Islamophobia and promotes engagement with Muslim communities.

The move comes after Rishi Sunak said on Friday that extremists were trying to undermine British democracy and called for the country to come together and “beat this poison”.

The Prime Minister said there had been a “shocking increase” in extremist activity in the UK in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Mr Gove has long been an advocate of tougher action against extremism and has commissioned Sara Khan, a former head of the independent Commission for Countering Extremism, to produce a report on the threats to community cohesion, expected to be published within weeks.

It is understood he originally wanted the new definition to be statutory but was warned that making it legally enforceable could capture political organisations such as the Scottish National Party. Instead it is expected to take the form of guidance, which will be less prescriptive.

Speech ‘smeared protesters’
A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain said: “Mr Sunak’s speech not only attempted to smear hundreds of thousands of protesters calling for peace in Gaza, it was also peppered with ill-defined warnings of extremism from ‘Islamists’ and the far Right.

“We await to see how the Government will expand its definition of extremism and whether they would also cover large swathes of the Conservative Party leadership who have directed divisive and hateful rhetoric against Muslims, and the large portion of the party’s membership with conspiratorial views about Muslims.”

The council said it fully supported Mr Sunak on the importance of the safety of MPs, the integrity of the democratic process and the need to ensure that Britain does not “descend into polarised camps”.

A spokesman for Palestine Action said: “This Government, along with Israel, has killed over 30,000 Palestinians in a genocide. The primary target of our campaign is Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, which markets its weapons as ‘battle-tested’. No definition will deter our campaign to shut Elbit down.

“The majority of the population in this country share our view and reject complicity in genocide. According to the Arms Trade Treaty, of which Britain is a ratifier, it should not be arming Israel. Is the Arms Trade Treaty and international law extreme?”

Source » telegraph.co.uk