HIZB UT-TAHRIR DENOUNCES TORIES CALL FOR A BAN
(4 July 2007)

Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain has denounced David Cameron's call for the party to be banned, labelling his promouncement as "opportunism". Hizb ut-Tahrir released a statement noting that ' while David Cameron alleged in Parliament today that Hizb ut-Tahrir is "poisoning the minds of young people and has said that Jews should be killed wherever they are found", less than a year ago he wrote to the then Chairman of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain's Executive Committee, Jamal Harwood, to express his gratitude to the party in this country for its criticisms of the foreign policy of the government, writing that his comments had been "noted and appreciated".

The letter begins by saying that, "David is most grateful to you for your comments on relationships between western governments and the Muslim world. He fully takes on board the points put across to him…Your comments are noted and appreciated" The letter concludes, "Thank you again for writing; your views have been taken on board".

Commenting on this, Dr Imran Waheed, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, "Many will find it remarkably hypocritical and opportunistic that less than a year ago, Cameron was expressing his gratitude for our comments on Israel's bombardment of Lebanon, yet now he calls for our banning, alleging that we call for the killing of Jews."

"We completely reject David Cameron's playing of politics with security and his baseless accusation that our organisation calls for the killing of Jews. His accusations are not surprising given that Hizb ut-Tahrir has been an ardent critic of the Zionist state, while Cameron has described himself as a Zionist. Perhaps Mr Cameron has not, this time, jumped onto a bandwagon, but onto a sinking ship."

Hizb ut-Tahrir received an unepected boost from former home secretary John Reid, who pointed out, during Prime Minister's Question, s two recent reviews of Hizb ut-Tahrir which concluded there was "not sufficient evidence" for it to be banned. Mr Reid called on Gordon Brown to "stay absolutely on the course he set today and to stick by the law and the evidence and not by any arbitrary political advantage".

Reid added: "Can I tell him that nothing would be more politically disadvantageous than taking a case without evidence and then losing it…It would confirm all of the accusations made against us." Brown thanked Reid - who stepped down from the cabinet at the same time as Tony Blair - for "the work he did as home secretary", particularly in setting up new arrangements for dealing with terrorism.

The prime minister agreed that "however distasteful remarks that are made by organisations are, we must proceed on the basis of evidence and we must work within the law".