Home Office ’employs member of radical Islamic group’
The Conservatives have described as “extraordinary” the revelation that a member of an Islamic group Tony Blair promised to ban is working at the Home Office.
It was reported last night that a member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir is working as a computer technician at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND)’s offices in Croydon.
Following the July 7th bombings last year, the prime minister announced the group would be banned, during his counter-terrorism speech stating that the “rules of the game have changed”.
Such a ban has not been implemented, even though a number of groups have been added to the Home Office’s proscribed list since that speech. Hizb-ut-Tahrir insists it is a non-violent political group, but it remains controversial.
Last night, BBC Two’s Newsnight alleged that some members of the group in south London were engaged in criminal activities. Hizb-ut-Tahrir has strongly denied the allegations and threatened to sue the corporation.
Regardless of these allegations, the Conservatives have raised questions about the employment of a member of such a controversial group in a sensitive Home Office department.
“This is a shocking revelation given Tony Blair’s insistence that this group should be proscribed and after illegal immigrant workers were discovered working in the Home Office,” said shadow home secretary David Davis.
“It is even more extraordinary following [home secretary] John Reid’s assertion that his system for screening employees who work in the Home Office deserves an ‘accolade’ for its efficiency.”
The Home Office refused to comment on whether an individual Hizb-ut-Tahrir member was working at the IND, but a spokeswoman said all civil servants were required to abide by a professional code and by Home Office rules of governance and conduct.
“Any allegations will be investigated and we have asked the BBC to supply any evidence to us,” she said.
