Former Green deputy leader backs EU resolution on Islamist political influence
Former Green Party deputy leader Dr Shahrar Ali has backed a European Parliament resolution addressing Islamist political influence and what it calls “entryism”, warning that some on the left underestimate the risks. He said the issue concerns both security and protecting shared democratic principles, while stressing the distinction between Islam as a religion and Islamism as a political ideology.
The resolution, proposed by the centre-right European People’s Party, passed by 381 votes to 167, with 15 abstentions. It calls for people and organisations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood to be considered for the EU terrorist list and for an EU-level list of hate preachers; it also warns of parallel communities and practices it says conflict with democratic values. Ali separately called for scrutiny of Britain’s Sharia councils, and the article notes his past legal disputes with the Green Party over his removal as a spokesman and later expulsion.
In short
- Dr Shahrar Ali backed an EU resolution on Islamist political influence.
- The measure passed by 381 votes to 167, with 15 abstentions.
- Ali said protecting common democratic rights is also at stake.
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The case for
Supporters argue that Islamist political networks can exploit open democratic systems to gain influence while undermining equal rights, and that governments should scrutinise such activity to protect public safety and shared democratic principles. They see EU-wide measures, including consideration of groups linked to the Muslim Brotherhood for terrorist designation, as a way to address risks that national authorities may otherwise handle inconsistently.
The case against
Critics can accept the need to counter violence while arguing that broad measures based on political links or religiously associated institutions risk conflating Islam with Islamism and stigmatising Muslim communities. They may also question whether proposed lists and warnings about parallel communities are sufficiently precise and evidence-based, and argue that safeguarding security must not weaken freedom of association, religious practice or democratic dissent.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “‘The far-Left are clueless about the scale of the threat. They’re useful idiots’: Muslim former Green Party deputy leader warns Islamist subversion in our society is a danger to us all”.