Nigel Farage says Reform UK would ban Muslim Brotherhood

Party leader promises Britain will follow lead of several countries if he is voted into power

Nigel Farage, speaking at the Reform UK annual conference, where he announced he would ban the Muslim Brotherhood. EPA

The Reform UK party will ban the Muslim Brotherhood if it is voted into power in the next general election, its leader Nigel Farage has said.

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.

But Mr Farage, who opinion polls show is on track to become the next prime minister, said Britain would follow suit if he gets the keys to Downing Street.

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"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he told the party's annual conference. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this - both Labour and Conservatives - I don't know.

“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”

Among those who have raised concerns about the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK is Fiyaz Mughal, the founder of Tell Mama, which monitors anti-Muslim hate crime.

Mr Mughal said he "fully supports" Mr Farage's proposal to ban the "toxic" Muslim Brotherhood which he said was “long overdue”.

Sir John Jenkins published his report on the Muslim Brotherhood ten years ago.

“The Muslim Brotherhood is alien to British values and are a malign force,” he said.

“British Muslims in the UK are diverse in their backgrounds and political opinions and the Muslim Brotherhood are toxic to pluralism, to Muslims having different opinions to them."

Mr Mughal believes the Muslim Brotherhood is seeking to shape the definition of Islamophobia through wielding influence over the Labour government while it carries out a review.

The party has faced a drain in its support from Muslims who believe it has not been forceful enough in denouncing Israel’s military action in Gaza.

This year marks ten years since a ground-breaking report into the Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.

Among the findings of the former diplomat's report was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.

David Cameron, prime minister at the time, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood is a "possible indicator of extremism" but said it would not be banned.

Since the Jenkins report was published, questions about the Muslim Brotherhood continued to hover in the background but have never reached the heart of the debate concerning Islam and British society.

Sir John recently told The National he believes the report was a wasted opportunity to understand and tackle the Brotherhood's influence.

“I just think governments need to act,” he said. “The first thing they should do is pay attention.

“Then they need to develop expertise. Then they need to monitor the actions, words and deeds of all these groups in all the languages they use.”

Key findings of Jenkins report

• Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence".
• Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
• The Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
• Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."