Jim Fitzpatrick calls for ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir

KhilafahA government minister has condemned a decision by radical Muslims to stage their annual party conference in London’s East End on Saturday.

Labour’s Transport Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said the Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, which wants Britain to be an “Islamic” state, was being deliberately divisive choosing Stepney for its conference.

The Poplar & Canning Town MP’s comments were backed by Tower Hamlets Tory Opposition councillor Tim Archer, who described Hizb ut-Tahrir’s decision as “disgusting.”

Their conference, Khilafah, The Need for Political Unity, comes a week after Tower Hamlets’ new borough police commander Paul Rickett warned that extremists could be targeting “vulnerable” members of the East End’s large Bengali population.

MP Mr Fitzpatrick told the Advertiser that he had “no time” for Hizb ut-Tahrir, an outfit former Prime Minister Tony Blair considered banning. “There’s a strong feeling they should be banned,” said Mr Fitzpatrick. “It’s an organisation that preaches intolerance and division and there should be no place for it.”

East London Advertiser, 14 August 2008