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.
