British government junior minister Penny Mordaunt said her meeting with MCB secretary general Zara Mohammed was within her role as an MP. Isabel Infantes / AFP
British government junior minister Penny Mordaunt said her meeting with MCB secretary general Zara Mohammed was within her role as an MP. Isabel Infantes / AFP
British government junior minister Penny Mordaunt said her meeting with MCB secretary general Zara Mohammed was within her role as an MP. Isabel Infantes / AFP
British government junior minister Penny Mordaunt said her meeting with MCB secretary general Zara Mohammed was within her role as an MP. Isabel Infantes / AFP

UK government reaffirms official blacklisting of Muslim Council of Britain


Damien McElroy
  • English
  • Arabic

British government officials reaffirmed Whitehall's ban on contacts with the Muslim Council of Britain over concerns the organisation has launched a new influence campaign.

The statement reiterating the policy came after a junior minister Penny Mordaunt met the secretary general of the MCB Zara Mohammed ahead of International Women's Day.

Ms Mordaunt claimed the meeting had taken place in her capacity as an MP working on constituency matters. However, the meeting was described as a breach of the decade-long policy of blacklisting the group. Yahya Birt, a commentator, asked if it represented a "crack in the ice" for a group that has been frozen out over extremism concerns.

Downing Street officials moved to quash the speculation. “The UK government has a long-standing policy of not engaging with the MCB and that has not changed,” a representative said.

Charles Moore, a visiting fellow at Policy Exchange think tank and former Daily Telegraph editor, warned the government that recognising Islamists would sideline moderate voices.

Senior ministers told the newspaper that Ms Mordaunt had erred. “You can’t really separate being a minister and an MP,” said one, while another official cast doubt on Ms Mordaunt's explanation and suggested she was “refusing to stick to the line”.

The MCB is leading a boycott of the government's review of counter-extremism policies, called Prevent, and has been highly critical of the man appointed to oversee that process, William Shawcross.

Neil Basu, the country's top terrorism police officer, said the campaign against the review of Prevent would be damaging.

“I would urge them to reconsider, because only when all sides of the discussion are heard can this review achieve what it sets out to achieve," he said. “I have always believed and stated publicly that Prevent is the most important pillar of our counter-terrorism strategy, and counter-terrorism police have long been advocates of an independent review.

"It is with great disappointment that I read some key groups plan to boycott the review altogether."

Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani told The National earlier this month that it was very important the review is able to address new extremist threats.

"Vested interests have consistently been negative about the Prevent strategy and the issue there is do those 'gatekeepers' really represent the community – those who are most vulnerable to having their children radicalised," she said.

"Do we continue to deal with the gatekeepers who tell us one story but when we research the views of the community there is a very different story altogether?"

UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Results

1. New Zealand Daniel Meech – Fine (name of horse), Richard Gardner – Calisto, Bruce Goodin - Backatorps Danny V, Samantha McIntosh – Check In. Team total First round: 200.22; Second round: 201.75 – Penalties 12 (jump-off 40.16 seconds) Prize €64,000

2. Ireland Cameron Hanley – Aiyetoro, David Simpson – Keoki, Paul Kennedy – Cartown Danger Mouse, Shane Breen – Laith. Team total 200.25/202.84 – P 12 (jump-off 51.79 – P17) Prize €40,000

3. Italy Luca Maria Moneta – Connery, Luca Coata – Crandessa, Simone Coata – Dardonge, Natale Chiaudani – Almero. Team total 130.82/198.-4 – P20. Prize €32,000

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

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Sheikh Zayed's poem

When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.

Your love is ruling over my heart

Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it

Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home

You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness

Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins

You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge

You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm

Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you

You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it

Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by. 

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

MATCH INFO

Inter Milan 1 (Martinez 18' pen)

Juventus 2 (Dybala 4', Higuain 80')