Britain’s Shariah banking: Sinister and dangerous implications
Worried that Britain is going bankrupt? Cheer up – we’re about to be bought up by the Islamic world.
A report by International Financial Services London reveals that Britain’s Islamic banking sector is now bigger than that of Pakistan.
The study says that the UK has by far the largest number of banks for Muslims of any western country.
The UK now has five fully ‘sharia-compliant’ banks – providing products which prohibit interest payments and investment in alcohol or gambling firms in accordance with Islamic sharia law – while another 17 leading institutions including Barclays, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group have set up special branches or subsidiary firms for Muslim clients.
The $18billion (£12bn) in assets of Britain’s Islamic banks are said to dwarf those of Muslim states such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Egypt. And there are also 55 colleges and professional institutions offering education in Islamic finance in Britain – more than anywhere else in the world.
This development has been actively pushed by the government. When he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown declared that he wanted London to become the global centre of Islamic banking. You can obviously see the attraction, especially in these straightened times. But the only thing our politicians and bankers appear to see is the seductive prospect of trillions of pound and dollar signs dancing before their bedazzled eyes.
- A perfect match - June 5, 2013