Parliament approves ban on Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir as terror organisation
Plans to ban Islamist political group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation have been approved by Parliament.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has organised rallies which took place on the streets of London alongside pro-Palestinian marches in recent months, following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
It has already been banned in Germany, as well as in several Arab and Asian countries because of what the Home Office has described as its “long-term goal of establishing a caliphate ruled under Islamic law”.
With headquarters in Lebanon, the group also operates in at least 32 countries including the UK, United States, Canada and Australia.
Both the Commons and Lords backed plans to proscribe the group as a terror organisation on Thursday.
It paved the way for the ban to come into force on Friday.
It will mean belonging to, inviting support for and displaying symbols of the group in public will be a criminal offence.
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In the House of Commons, security minister Tom Tugendhat said the proscription order would cover the entire global organisation, as well as all regional branches including Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain.
He claimed the group engaged in “homophobic and antisemitic discourse”, that it “plays the mood music to which other terrorists dance”, and had glorified Hamas’s attacks on Israeli citizens on October 7.
Mr Tugendhat told MPs: “This proscription will serve as a reminder that the United Kingdom does not and will never tolerate the promotion of or encouragement of terrorism.
“It will send the message that promoting or encouraging Hamas’s sickening attack on October 7 is utterly unacceptable and at odds with the values of this country.”
In a message to British Jews, the minister said the government had an “unwavering commitment to fighting antisemitism”, and told British Muslims that the group “does not represent Islam or Muslims”, adding: “You are a crucial part of our nation, and your government is on your side.”
Shadow Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said banning the group was “the right thing to do for our national security”.
He added: “For too long, the public has been exposed to their extremist ideology, their glorification of terrorist activity and their core aim of overthrowing our democratic system of government to replace it with an Islamist theocracy.
“If left alone, extremism can and will spread insidiously and seep deep into our national conversation.
“No government must ever relent in its determination to ensure that we are always one step ahead of those who seek to harm us or to undermine our way of life.”
Mr Jarvis also warned that there were “lessons to be learned” by the government about speeding up the process to ban terror groups in future.
In a statement, Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain has denied it is antisemitic or encourages terrorism and said it would seek to challenge the proscription “using all available legal means”.
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