Muslim Council of Britain asks government to explain non-engagement policy
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has accused Security Minister Dan Jarvis of repeating an "unsubstantiated allegation" against it to justify why Andy Burnham's government refuses to engage with the organisation.
Speaking to Middle East Eye on Thursday, the MCB praised Prime Minister Burnham, who has previously engaged with the organisation, saying he "has a strong record of engaging honestly with communities across this country" and it hoped "that record continues now that he is in Downing Street".
The MCB, which the government refuses to engage with, is the largest umbrella body representing British Muslim organisations, with more than 500 affiliates.
Earlier this month, Conservative MP David Simmonds asked the government why it does not engage with "Mend [Muslim Engagement and Development], Cage, the Muslim Association of Britain and the Muslim Council of Britain".
In a response published on Tuesday, Jarvis said: "The Government has previously made the decision to not engage with organisations that have taken positions that contradict our fundamental values and have not explicitly retracted these positions."
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On Thursday morning, the MCB sent Jarvis a letter, seen by MEE, saying he had made an "unsubstantiated allegation against the MCB, previously made by then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 28 February 2024".
Sunak had said that the MCB's "previous leaders have taken positions that contradict our fundamental values".
The MCB's letter asked Jarvis to specify what "fundamental values" the organisation has contradicted.
"If the Government maintains such a position in respect of our organisation, it must be able to state clearly and unambiguously what those values are, not refer to them in the abstract."
The letter further noted that "Sir Keir Starmer as Leader of the Opposition, has engaged with the MCB".
The MCB said: "The current Prime Minister, the current Defence Secretary and the current Equalities Minister have all engaged with the MCB over the years."
The phantom 'non-engagement' policy
This comes after MEE reported this week that the communities ministry, the Home Office and the Cabinet Office had denied holding any information on the government's "non-engagement policy" with the MCB in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.
As an MEE analysis showed on Tuesday, no written records of an actual non-engagement policy appear to exist.
On Tuesday, MEE emailed the Office for Equality and Opportunity, which is part of the communities ministry, as well as the ministry itself, asking what the non-engagement policy entailed and for the official justification for refusing to engage with the MCB.
A spokesperson for the Office for Equality and Opportunity did not answer the questions, instead saying: "There has been no change to our non-engagement policy regarding the Muslim Council of Britain, and there are no plans for ministers to meet with the group."
The MCB's assistant secretary general, Mustafa al-Dabbagh, told MEE: "This so-called policy of non-engagement is a relic of the past, built on a smear that has since been proven false, and the Labour government of the day accepted as much in 2010, restoring engagement. Mr Jarvis has misled Parliament by claiming otherwise."
He praised Burnham, saying: "The current prime minister engaged with the MCB back in 2015, then as a member of the shadow cabinet, and has a strong record of engaging honestly with communities across this country.
"We hope that record continues now that he is in Downing Street, and that his premiership marks a change of direction for this government and its relationship with British Muslims.
"Our door remains open to all who work for the good of Britain."
MCB's record of government engagement
In 2009, the MCB was briefly boycotted by Gordon Brown’s Labour government after its deputy secretary general, Daud Abdullah, signed the so-called Istanbul Declaration in Turkey.
According to the government, the declaration called for attacks on Royal Navy vessels if they attempted to prevent weapons from entering Gaza for Hamas, a claim Abdullah denied.
The MCB denounced the statement, saying Abdullah had signed it strictly in a personal capacity. Abdullah resigned, and the Labour government resumed engagement with the organisation.
Ministers in the coalition government also held meetings with the MCB between 2010 and 2015. Civil servants continued to meet with the MCB until March 2020.
That was when the organisation produced a dossier outlining what it said was evidence of Islamophobia against more than 300 individuals, including Conservative MPs, councillors, party members and special advisers inside 10 Downing Street.
'British Muslims deserve a clear and transparent explanation from their government'
- Muslim Council of Britain
That same month, civil servants reportedly broke off relations with the organisation. The Conservatives subsequently boycotted the MCB, and Starmer's Labour government adopted the same approach in July 2024.
Burnham has previously engaged with the MCB, including by giving a speech at an MCB Muslim Leadership Dinner in 2015.
The MCB's letter on Thursday accused Jarvis of "a misrepresentation of both the historical record and our organisation's position".
The group requested "a clear explanation of the government’s non-engagement policy".
It asked: "What specific evidential basis and assessments underscore a decision that justifies treating a matter resolved by your predecessors in government as still valid 16 years later?"
The MCB argued that "British Muslims deserve a clear and transparent explanation from their government as to why it continues to refuse engagement with the organisation over 500 member organisations across the UK have democratically chosen to represent them".
MEE understands the security minister plans to respond to the MCB's letter, but that the government currently has no plans to engage with the MCB.
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