Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy plans crackdown on extremist preachers

“But we have seen too many shocking cases where extremists have tried to exploit charities to spread hate and division. That cannot be allowed to continue.

“That is why we will ensure the Charity Commission has the powers it has asked for to bar anyone convicted of hate crimes from serving as a trustee or using charitable status as a shield for extremist activity. There can be no place for hate in our charity sector.”

Sources close to Nandy told the JC that the consultation ahead of the new legislation was due before Christmas.

Among other things, the consultation is likely to consider the appropriate threshold for disqualification from top positions at charities, amid concerns that very few extremist preachers are ever convicted of any crime.

This point was raised by Claudia Mendoza, CEO of the Jewish Leadership Council, who urged the government to back up the announcement with meaningful action.

"There are countless examples of hate preaching in Islamic centres both before but especially since October 7, 2023. While it is sensible to block those convicted of hate crimes from serving as trustees, it is difficult to see any significant impact from such a change when there has not been a single prosecution for such hate preaching offences in the past two years”, she said.

Adding: “We welcome efforts to address and tackle this issue but plasters over a gaping wound won’t be enough.”

Earlier this year, the JC reported that no charges were brought against a preacher at an east London mosque who cursed Jews and called for their homes to be destroyed in a sermon shortly after Hamas’ atrocities in southern Israel on October 7, a decision condemned by CST and other Jewish organisations. It came amid a number of examples of antisemitic language and incitement from extremist clerics who have not faced charges or prosecution. 

Meanwhile, Board of Deputies Vice President Andrew Gilbert thanked Nandy for what he described as an “important and long-awaited measure”.

He added: “We hope this will be the first of a number important steps to combat Islamist extremism and promote cohesion to build a society which works for all of us."

The comments by Nandy come as the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs on Monday afternoon that the government was determined to act to tackle “the rising tide of antisemitism in this country”.

In a statement to the Commons, Mahmood described the Heaton Park shul terror attack as “an evil act of antisemitic terrorism that targeted innocent worshippers … that was carried out by a terrorist pledging his allegiance to the warped ideology of Islamism” and paid tribute to Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, who were murdered by the jihadist.

She also confirmed that the government would amend the Public Order Act to enable police to “take account of the cumulative impact of frequent protests when considering whether to impose conditions”, that would force repeat demonstrations to change their route or scheduled time.

The home secretary also listed a series of measures that the government had taken since the terror attack, but admitted that “more must be done” to defend the Jewish community from antisemitism.

“We have, in the days since the attack, stepped up our efforts to tackle antisemitism wherever it is found. Challenging misinformation and hatred in schools, calling on vice-chancellors to do more to protect Jewish students at universities and calling on local authorities to use their powers to protect the community. As well as reviewing the clearly inadequate regulations that protect Jewish staff and patients in the NHS,” Mahmood told the Commons.