JOHNSON: UK MUST WORK WITH OTHERS TO STOP FUNDING FOR HATE-PREACHING MOSQUES

Britain needs to work with other countries to cut off funding for mosques which preach hate in the UK, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said.

But he declined to discuss claims that Prime Minister Theresa May has suppressed an official inquiry which reportedly points the finger at Saudi Arabia for funding extremist groups in the UK.

Mrs May is under growing pressure to release the report, which was commissioned by her predecessor, David Cameron.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron says that Mr Cameron promised him it would be published in the spring of 2016, but it is yet to emerge.

Answering questions following a speech in County Durham, Mr Johnson said that he was not aware of a report of that kind, but would anyway not be willing to discuss a “confidential” paper.

The Foreign Secretary told reporters: “I can’t comment on any confidential report, but you are making a valid point about the role of other countries, governments or not, in funding, wittingly or not, groups that may be responsible for terrorism and in funding mosques where all sorts of hate-filled nonsense is being spouted.

“We’ve got to stop that, and you’re right that we’ve got to work with those countries to cut it out.

“We need to cut the funding to terrorism, just as Theresa rightly says we need to stop this stuff being transmitted over the internet.

“We need to work with the great internet companies – principally American companies – to stop it.

“But that should in no way exculpate the criminals, the scumbags, who are responsible for terrorist atrocities in our country and around the world.”

Mr Cameron agreed to the inquiry into foreign funding of Islamic extremists in 2015 as part of a deal with the Lib Dems in return for their support on the extension of air strikes into Syria.

Reports last week suggested that the findings may never be published because of the sensitivity of information about Saudi Arabia, though the Home Office said a decision on its release would be made after the election.

Asked whether it was being suppressed, Mr Johnson said: “We have plenty of stuff that we don’t publish.

“I will dig it out and have a look at it, if that’s what you want me to do, but as far as I know we do not have a confidential report of the kind you describe.”