Cameron and the Muslim Brothers
Sudden UK inquiry smacks of pandering to Saudi Arabia

Since the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001, Britain, like other western governments, has from time to time banned Islamist movements that incite violence or sponsor terrorism. The announcement by David Cameron that his government is conducting an inquiry into the Muslim Brotherhood is highly unusual – and has raised suspicions over the prime minister’s motives.

The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, is the most important pan-Islamic political organisation in the world. It has millions of followers in the Middle East and beyond. In the past three years, of course, its branch in Egypt has occupied centre stage. After the fall of the Mubarak regime, the Brotherhood enjoyed a brief stint in power marked by chaos and incompetence. In 2012 the military overthrew the government and the movement is now being hounded. Last week an Egyptian court sentenced 529 of its members to death.

Given the widespread disquiet in the west at those sentences, Mr Cameron’s announcement of an investigation into the Brotherhood looks somewhat ill-timed. It also has triggered unease in Whitehall. The prime minister’s office said Sir John Jenkins, the British ambassador to Riyadh, will head the inquiry into the “group’s philosophy and values and alleged connections with extremism and violence”. Yet Foreign Office officials have expressed concern privately that this cuts against its efforts to engage with the organisation inside and outside Britain.

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Stories about an alleged Islamist takeover of Birmingham schools are creating an atmosphere of mistrust that will harm children and prevent Muslims from becoming teachers, according to a school governor at the centre of the row.

Muhammad Khan (pictured) said that there was no substance to the widely-reported allegations that extremists have taken control at Saltley School, where he has been a governor for more than a decade. But he describes the current media frenzy and “innuendo” as “scary” and believes it will be already having an impact on students.

“There is a de-humanisation going on,” Dr Khan a tutor at Ruskin College, Oxford said. “Forget us [the governors], and forget the teachers – we are all adults. But as a child if you are constantly getting this on the TV and newspaper that this is the sort of school you are going to, then what is happening to you in terms of how you see your school, how you see your community and how you see yourself? Many of these children are Muslim and British and this is the kind of stuff you are hearing about your religion in the country that’s your home.”

The allegations emerged earlier this month in “leaked” documents, purportedly revealing correspondence between Islamic fundamentalists. They discuss a supposedly successful plan – dubbed ‘Operation Trojan Horse’ – to win control of Birmingham schools, including Saltley. Factual inaccuracies quickly led to widespread doubts about the authenticity of the documents. Some suspect they were produced by provocateurs trying to stir up ill feeling towards Muslims.

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