A veteran Government adviser on counter-extremism has accused the Home Office of trying to “silence” him after he criticised ministers’ handling of the growing Islamist threat to Britain.
Fiyaz Mughal, founder of Tell Mama, stepped down from his Home Office advisory role at the end of last year, claiming he faced “insidious pressure” to avoid speaking publicly about the threat posed by Islamist ideology.
“I actively made the decision to more robustly challenge Islamist extremism and felt it wasn’t possible to continue speaking out about it while working there,” he said.
His departure brought to an end more than 20 years advising successive governments on extremism and radicalisation.
The row followed an article Mr Mughal wrote for The Telegraph last February, in which he said he was stunned that Islamist extremism was not mentioned during the first 90 minutes of a Home Office summit on tackling radicalisation.
Instead, civil servants focused on threats described as having “mixed” or “no clear ideology”, as well as misogyny, the far-right and incel culture – despite intelligence agencies repeatedly identifying Islamist extremism as the UK’s primary terror threat.
The day after the article was published, a senior Home Office official contacted Mr Mughal to discuss his media activity and future work with the Government.
“It was done so insidiously. He’s basically saying ‘if you come in line, I can help you a bit’,” Mr Mughal said.
Fiyaz Mughal accused the Home Office of trying to ‘silence’ him
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His counter-extremism work dates back to 2005, when Sir Tony Blair invited him to join a taskforce following the 7/7 London bombings.
Since then, he has served on multiple Government working groups and founded both Tell Mama and Faith Matters.
Mr Mughal believes the current Labour administration has deliberately softened its approach to Islamist extremism for political reasons.
“As soon as Labour came in, I recognised a shift. Why has suddenly the focus on Islamism dropped off?” he said.
BRITAIN’S ISLAMIST THREAT – READ THE LATEST:
Mr Mughal believes the current Labour administration has deliberately softened its approach to Islamist extremism
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“My perspective is they feel it will cost them politically if they speak about it – they have bought into the ruse that it will cause community divisions. They desperately don’t want to lose the Muslim vote and support.”
Those concerns intensified after the last general election, when pro-Palestinian independent candidates overturned several Labour seats.
Five Gaza-focused independents defeated Labour incumbents, becoming the sixth-largest grouping in Parliament.
The Muslim Vote campaign group later claimed “unprecedented” influence over the outcome.
The Muslim Vote group said it was formed to mobilise Britain’s 3.9 million Muslims at elections
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The group said it was formed to mobilise Britain’s 3.9 million Muslims at elections and pressure Sir Keir Starmer to meet its 18 policy demands.
Several senior Labour figures saw their majorities slashed, while Health Secretary Wes Streeting narrowly retained his seat by just 528 votes against an independent challenger.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The Government regularly works with external partners and experts to discuss policy ideas, as broad consultation is an important part of responsible policy development.
“The UK has one of the most robust counter-terrorism frameworks in the world with the powers needed for the security services and police to keep us safe.”