The Prime Minister is to launch a fresh bid to place new legal curbs on radical Islamist outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir, to quell concerns the group sees British campuses as a fertile recruiting ground.
Laws designed to restrict the activities of the Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir are being drafted but David Cameron’s aim to outlaw the group entirely has been dismissed because no proof exists that the group has any involvement in terror activities.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has thousands of members in Britain. Tony Blair also attempted a ban in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings, but was warned by police and security advisors that driving the group underground could backfire with no proof of violent activities. The Tories pledged to ban the group in their election manifesto, saying the advocated “the violent overthrow of our society”.
Cameron is now considering creating a “Class B” of hardline groups, which would restrict their activities, short of an outright ban, the Times reported. The job of devising such a system will go to the anti-terrorism taskforce set up after the brutal killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in an alleged Islamist-motivated attack in Woolwich. One possibility is that Hizb ut-Tahrir would be banned from holding meetings in public buildings such as universities, the Independent claimed.
James Brokenshire, the Security Minister, told MPs this week that the Home Office was committed to tackling the group’s activities on university campuses.
“Such groups are not free to spread hatred and incite violence as they please,” he said. “The police have comprehensive powers to take action under the criminal law to deal with people who incite hatred, and they will do so. We will seek to ensure that Hizb ut-Tahrir and groups like it cannot operate without challenge in public places in this country.
“We will not tolerate secret meetings behind closed doors on premises funded by the taxpayer, and we will ensure that civic organisations are made well aware of Hizb ut-Tahrir and groups like it, and of the names under which they operate and the ways in which they go about their business.”