Britain to investigate Muslim Brotherhood

The British government has announced that it will launch a review into the operations of the Muslim Brotherhood inside the UK.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday that “given the concerns now being expressed 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”.

The statement by Downing Street added that the government had not “kept pace” with the organisation’s ideas and values since it came to prominence.

Many members of the Brotherhood have moved to the UK after a crackdown in Egypt by the military-led government. The organisation’s press office is now based in north London.

The group was recently banned and declared a “terrorist” organisation by Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian government blames the movement for attacks on its security forces and for working with foreign groups to subvert Egypt.

The Brotherhood’s fortunes have deteriorated dramatically after Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s former president, was toppled by the army last July. The group’s senior leadership has since been largely imprisoned or forced in to exile. 

Hundreds of Brotherhood members and supporters have been killed in frequent protests against the Egyptian authorities.

Last week, 529 alleged members of the group were sentenced to death in the southern Egyptian city of Minya after a trial lasting only two sessions.