Former UK defence and international trade secretary, Liam Fox, warned that fear of being labelled racist or Islamophobic has left some British politicians hesitant to confront extremist groups, creating what he called a “toxic environment”.
The UK has so far stopped short of following the example of countries such as the UAE, Egypt, Austria and, most recently, Jordan, in proscribing the Muslim Brotherhood.
“We're afraid of being labelled as racist or Islamophobic. You've got politicians on the left who are afraid of losing electoral support by tackling these many groups. And the combination of that is a toxic environment,” Mr Fox told the Trends 5th Annual Forum on Political Islam. The conference, held in Abu Dhabi, explored contemporary approaches to ideologically driven extremism.
This month, the leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage said his party would ban the Muslim Brotherhood if voted into power in the next general election.
The Muslim Brotherhood remains a significant but embattled Islamist movement, with its influence and operations severely constrained in many countries. Once powerful, especially in Egypt before the 2013 coup, many of the organisation's leaders have been jailed or exiled.
Battles over legal status are a central feature now. In Jordan, the government banned the Muslim Brotherhood and shut down its local branch, accusing members of plotting militant actions. Internationally, there is renewed pressure, especially from US politicians: bills have been introduced to formally designate the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation.
This summer, the French government said it would take new measures to tackle the Muslim Brotherhood's influence in the country, including the disbanding of endowment funds and a new asset-freeze mechanism.
Mr Fox, who is also the chairman of the UK Abraham Accords Group, said Britain must approach the issue carefully but decisively. "The key message from the non-Islamic population in Britain has to be that this is not about Islam. The so-called Muslim Brotherhood are nothing to do with Islam,” he said.
“They are a highly ideological revolutionary group who have very clear objectives. They don't at any point correspond to the values that I want or that traditionally are part of the UK.
"But then the second and more important task, I would say, is recognising the recruit from the Muslim population in Britain, which is largely a Pakistani and Bangladeshi community in Britain. And it tends to be very concentrated geographically."
He also said that clarity of language is crucial. "They are not religious extremists. They are extremists who use religion as a cover or attempt to hijack it as a cover," added Mr Fox.
"We've got to get our terminology right. Because when we talk about some of these terrorists, we actually aggravate rather than help the problem. And we must never use the phrase 'Muslim Brotherhood' because it instantly, to a population that doesn't understand the issues, suggests that this is primarily an act of religiously motivated grouping. We've got to stop it, and that requires a lot of education."
