Cameron orders inquiry into Muslim Brotherhood

The Prime Minister has commissioned an inquiry into the UK activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, 10 Downing Street has announced. The investigation, which will draw on MI5 and MI6 assessments, was called for after the government concluded that Whitehall had insufficient intelligence regarding the organisation’s activities in Britain and Egypt.

The Times has reported that MI6 will investigate claims that the Muslim Brotherhood was responsible for recent bus attacks in Egypt, while MI5 will look into how many of the group’s leaders relocated to Britain following the ousting of Mohamed Morsi.

David Cameron said: “What I think is important about the Muslim Brotherhood is that we understand what this organisation is, what it stands for, what its beliefs are in terms of the path of extremism and violent extremism, what its connections are with other groups, what its presence is here in the United Kingdom. Our policies should be informed by a complete picture of that knowledge.

“It is an important piece of work because we will only get our policy right if we fully understand the true nature of the organisation that we are dealing with.”

A Downing Street spokesman told the Times: “The Muslim Brotherhood has risen in prominence in recent years but our understanding of the organisation, its philosophy and values, has not kept pace with this. Given the concerns about the group and its alleged links to violent extremism, it’s absolutely right and prudent that we get a better handle of what the Brotherhood stands for, how they intend to achieve their aims and what that means for Britain.”