Islamic radicals 'infiltrate' the Labour Party (UK)

[Stuart Mackey]

Telegraph UK

Islamic radicals 'infiltrate' the Labour Party
A Labour minister says his party has been infiltrated by a fundamentalist Muslim group that wants to create an “Islamic social and political order” in Britain.


The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) — which believes in jihad and sharia law, and wants to turn Britain and Europe into an Islamic state — has placed sympathisers in elected office and claims, correctly, to be able to achieve “mass mobilisation” of voters.
Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, Jim Fitzpatrick, the Environment Minister, said the IFE had become, in effect, a secret party within Labour and other political parties.

“They are acting almost as an entryist organisation, placing people within the political parties, recruiting members to those political parties, trying to get individuals selected and elected so they can exercise political influence and power, whether it’s at local government level or national level,” he said.
“They are completely at odds with Labour’s programme, with our support for secularism.”
Mr Fitzpatrick, the MP for Poplar and Canning Town, said the IFE had infiltrated and “corrupted” his party in east London in the same way that the far-Left Militant Tendency did in the 1980s. Leaked Labour lists show a 110 per cent rise in party membership in one constituency in two years.
In a six-month investigation by this newspaper and Channel 4’s Dispatches, involving weeks of covert filming by the programme’s reporters:
IFE activists boasted to the undercover reporters that they had already “consolidated … a lot of influence and power” over Tower Hamlets, a London borough council with a £1 billion budget.
We have established that the group and its allies were awarded more than £10 million of taxpayers’ money, much of it from government funds designed to “prevent violent extremism”.
IFE leaders were recorded expressing opposition to democracy, support for sharia law or mocking black people. The IFE organised meetings with extremists, including Taliban allies, a man named by the US government as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and a man under investigation by the FBI for his links to the September 11 attacks.
Moderate Muslims in London told how the IFE and its allies were enforcing their hardline views on the rest of the local community, curbing behaviour they deemed “un-Islamic”. The owner of a dating agency received a threatening email from an IFE activist, warning her to close it.
George Galloway, a London MP, admitted in recordings obtained by this newspaper that his surprise victory in the 2005 election owed more to the IFE “than it would be wise – for them – for me to say, adding that they played a “decisive role” in his triumph at the polls.
Mr Galloway now says they were one of many groups which supported his anti-war stance and had never sought to influence him.
The IFE has particularly close links to Tower Hamlets council. Seven serving and former councillors said Lutfur Rahman, the current council leader, gained his post with the group’s help.
Some said they were canvassed by a senior IFE official on his behalf. After Mr Rahman was elected, a man with close links to the group, Lutfur Ali, was appointed assistant chief executive of the council with responsibility for grant funding.
This was despite a chequered employment record, a misleading CV and a negative report from the headhunters appointed to consider the candidates. The council’s white chief executive was subsequently forced from his post.
Since Mr Rahman became leader, more council grants have been paid to a number of organisations which our investigation established are closely linked to the IFE.
Funding for other, secular groups was ended or cut. In the borough’s well-known Brick Lane area, council funds were switched from a largely secular heritage trail to a highly controversial “hijab sculpture”, angering many residents who accused the council of “religious triumphalism”.
Schools in Tower Hamlets are told by the council should close for the Muslim festival of Eid, even where most of their pupils are not Muslim.
Mr Rahman refused to deny that an IFE activist had canvassed councillors on his behalf. He said: “There are various people across Tower Hamlets who get excited, who get involved.”
He would not comment on concerns about infiltration, saying they were “party matters”. He said: “If you look at our flagship policies, like investing £20 million to tackle overcrowding, you can see that we are working for everyone.”
The IFE said it did not seek to influence the council and had not lobbied for Mr Rahman. “If anything, existing members of the Labour Party have joined the IFE, rather than the other way round,” it said.
The group insisted it was not a fundamentalist or extremist organisation and did not support violence.

Interesting times in the UK when government ministers are saying this sort of thing

[Teleros]

The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) — which believes in jihad and sharia law, and wants to turn Britain and Europe into an Islamic state
...
Moderate Muslims in London told how the IFE and its allies were enforcing their hardline views on the rest of the local community, curbing behaviour they deemed “un-Islamic”. The owner of a dating agency received a threatening email from an IFE activist, warning her to close it.

Remind me why we can't ban these guys & kick them out again?

[Stuart Mackey]

The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) — which believes in jihad and sharia law, and wants to turn Britain and Europe into an Islamic state
...
Moderate Muslims in London told how the IFE and its allies were enforcing their hardline views on the rest of the local community, curbing behaviour they deemed “un-Islamic”. The owner of a dating agency received a threatening email from an IFE activist, warning her to close it.

Remind me why we can't ban these guys & kick them out again?

Your overlords in Brussels say you cannot because of human rights legislation they have developed without any consideration of the human rights abuse that will occur if the Islamist nutters have their way.

[Simon_Jester]

Can't you still charge them with crimes on an individual basis? I mean, stalking someone via e-mail is still a crime even if you do it for religious reasons, right?

[Stuart Mackey]

Can't you still charge them with crimes on an individual basis? I mean, stalking someone via e-mail is still a crime even if you do it for religious reasons, right?

An individual crime is one thing, and easily dealt with, but the problem here is not criminal, quite the contrary, although it will lead to such acts if left unchecked.

[Teebs]

Your overlords in Brussels say you cannot because of human rights legislation they have developed without any consideration of the human rights abuse that will occur if the Islamist nutters have their way.

Care to back that comment up with some substance?

[Simon_Jester]

An individual crime is one thing, and easily dealt with, but the problem here is not criminal, quite the contrary, although it will lead to such acts if left unchecked.

Ahem: What you originally quoted:

The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) — which believes in jihad and sharia law, and wants to turn Britain and Europe into an Islamic state
...
Moderate Muslims in London told how the IFE and its allies were enforcing their hardline views on the rest of the local community, curbing behaviour they deemed “un-Islamic”. The owner of a dating agency received a threatening email from an IFE activist, warning her to close it.

At this point, the problem becomes criminal, and this has already happened.

[Stuart Mackey]

At this point, the problem becomes criminal, and this has already happened.

Threats etc are criminal, but these are symptoms of a problem and thats that local government is undermined, if government ,at all levels, starts to fall into the hands of those who approve of this behavior, then what?

[Stuart Mackey]

Your overlords in Brussels say you cannot because of human rights legislation they have developed without any consideration of the human rights abuse that will occur if the Islamist nutters have their way.

Care to back that comment up with some substance?

Not really, but then I forgot to add an , taking the piss does not carry well sometimes.

[cosmicalstorm]

Certainly a disturbing trend, there was a documentary on TV here in Sweden yesterday showing how the local mosque in some areas with a large Muslim population would send out men to act as religious police. They would stop women from entering parties and tell them Allah would send them to hell if they listened to music and danced, they would threaten and harass women who were dressed "improperly" (i.e. not covered from head to toe in black clothing) in the day to day life of the neighborhood, a guy who was known for throwing parties had been beaten up and received multiple death threats and was now forced to host his parties far away.

[Hillary]

I am treating this report with more than a bit of suspicion. The Telegraph is a massive Tory supporter in the run up to a general election and is not beneath this sort of troublemaking.

For example.

Schools in Tower Hamlets are told by the council should close for the Muslim festival of Eid, even where most of their pupils are not Muslim.

Whereas here

Schools will be allowed to close for Islamic holidays in order to improve attendance rates, under new plans.

My bolding.

The only attributed quotes appear to be from an MP who is concerned that he may be deselected and from everyone's favourite bogeyman, George Galloway.

Everything else comes from vague figures such as "IFE Activists" or "moderate Muslims".

An Islamic sculture to be erected in Brick Lane? Like there aren't a million publicly funded Christian statues around the country.

The IFE encouraging Muslims to take up membership of the Labour party in order to force its agenda? Christians have never tried to flex their political muscle, have they?

The "Islamic extremists to take over the world - ARMAGEDDON" line has been wheeled out on a fairly regular basis over the last 10 years and this appears to be one more. A quick search of the IFE's website shows the front page as reading

The IFE wholly rejects the allegations made against it by Andrew Gilligan in the latest episode of Channel 4’s “Dispatches”.

It is untrue that:

1. the IFE supports extremism;

2. the IFE seeks to establish an Islamic State
or ‘Caliphate’ in Britain;

3. the IFE seeks to impose Sharia Law in Britain;

4. the IFE has “infiltrated” Tower Hamlets Labour Party;

5. the IFE has received public funds or “Prevent” funding.

I appreciate that "they would say that, wouldn't they" but their website hardly seems to scream extremist to me.