by Elizabeth Ivens, Daily Mail
The Government’s former extremism adviser has warned fears over being accused of racism may have led to a network of charities becoming ‘soft power’ hubs for Iran.
A landmark report by Labour peer Lord Walney has identified more than 30 organisations that he alleges have become part of the network with links to the hardline Iranian Islamic Republic.
They include religious institutions, cultural institutions, community centres and charities operating around the UK.
But Lord Walney, a former Labour MP, says fear over being embroiled in racism rows has prevented authorities for clamping down on them but warns they must do so.
And he says the Charity Commission, which regulates charities in the UK, must be given more powers to deal with the ‘underlying mission’ of potentially rogue charities.
Former commission head Sir William Shawcross told Lord Walney that there was ‘widespread fear amongst police, amongst schools, the headmasters and others of being accused of being racist’ if they challenged any suspect organisations.
Commission chair between 2012 and 2018, Sir William said that he encountered a ‘real nervousness about talking about suspicions of Muslim organisations’.
And he warned that even eight years ago when he left the commission ‘it was already clear that the Iranians were very, very active in Britain, both in charitable and non-charitable organisations’.
The new report, Undue Influence, claims Iran uses the network to maintain its ‘influence and interests’ in the UK while separately plotting violent attacks against dissidents, Iranian media and the Jewish community.