Muslim groups face funding ban under UK ‘blacklist’ plan
The British government is drawing up a “blacklist” of organisations to face funding cuts based on a new definition of extremism.
Several Muslim groups are likely to be on the list after being singled out in government reports.
The list is part of Communities Secretary Michael Gove’s extremism review, and groups included on it would be banned from receiving public funds, engaging with government agencies and appearing at university campuses.
The government will stop short of criminalising such groups, unlike those proscribed as terror organisations, such as Hizb ut-Tahrir.
However, groups expected to be on the list have suggested it would amount to a curb on freedom of expression.
Among the groups reportedly set for inclusion on the list are the Muslim Council of Britain – the country’s largest Muslim organisation – as well as Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend) and Palestine Action.
The Muslim Council for Britain Charitable Foundations last year received £326,000 ($415,000) from Kickstart, a government scheme to get young people into work. The Ministry of Defence has cut ties with the group.
Mend campaigns against Islamophobia, but has been accused of undermining Britain’s counter-terrorism programme, Prevent.
Palestine Action has been organising demonstrations, including at a factory the group claims makes drone parts for Elbit Systems, an Israeli company that supplies drones to the country’s military. The organisation has also plotted to disrupt the London Stock Exchange.
The initiative follows a speech by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday, when he called for Britain to draw a line against the “poison of extremism” and said the country was being torn apart by rising domestic tension.
Mr Gove vowed to take a tougher stance on groups and individuals “undermining” British values by changing the government’s definition of extremism, which has not been altered for more than a decade.
He is also expected to provide details of a government
counter-extremism unit, which will provide training for officials across departments to improve their ability to identify extremist activity.
The unit will be responsible for assessing if people or groups are in breach of the new definition.
Whitehall departments have been banned from working directly with the MCB since 2009, and in 2020, then-communities secretary Robert Jenrick reinforced the boycott position in a letter.
In response to Mr Gove’s review, the MCB said that the ruling Conservative Party’s own politicians should be held to account under the new policy.
“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 organisation said.
“That the same people would choose to consider mainstream, diverse and democratic British Muslim representative bodies as extremist is particularly ironic.”
Mend claimed pro-Palestinian marches “would be banned” under the “Orwellian proposals”, which it called a “blatant attack on freedom of expression”.
“We will not sit by and idly watch our cherished democracy destroyed like this.
“Mend calls on parliamentarians and civil society organisations to work together to resist this draconian legislation,” the group said.
A spokesman for Palestine Action said that “no definition” of extremism “will deter our campaign to shut Elbit down”.
Mr Gove’s department refused to comment on which groups would be on the list, but did not deny that measures were under consideration.
“We are taking action to tackle extremism at its root and to ensure that no extremist organisations or individuals are being given a platform by their actions and interactions with government,” said a representative.