‘Islam critic’ sacked by British Council

The British Council sacked a senior officer yesterday after investigating allegations that he wrote articles in The Sunday Telegraph that criticised Islam.

The government-funded body, which promotes cultural relations, said that it had dismissed an employee, believed to be Harry Cummins, a long-serving press officer. The investigation followed the publication of four articles written under the pseudonym Will Cummins.

In the pieces, which were attacked by Islamic organisations, Will Cummins said that Muslim voters had a “global jihad agenda”.

In one he said: “Christians are the original inhabitants and rightful owners of almost every Muslim land and behave with a humility quite unlike the menacing behaviour we have come to expect from the Muslims who have forced themselves on Christendom.”

The British Council has distanced itself from the content of the articles. “From the British Council point of view, it has been a pretty distressing and damaging period and we are still digesting the consequences,” a spokesman said.

The Sunday Telegraph declined to comment.

Daily Telegraph, 2 September 2004