Jihadi gangs in UK prisons are telling crooks to ‘convert or get hurt’: Report

The 159-page worrying document, published by the Government’s faith adviser Colin Bloom, warns Sikh extremism, Hindu extremism and Black nationalism were all thriving as a result of the Home Office’s “laser focus” on far-right activists.

The independent review, published on Wednesday and entitled Does government do God?, says about 18 percent of prisoners identified as Muslim in 2021, compared with eight percent in 2002.

Colin Bloom said, “Failure to identify as a Muslim meant that at best the new prisoner would be denied ‘protection’ from the dominant Muslim gang on that wing, or at worst the new prisoner would be subjected to violence and intimidation from that same gang.”

“This reviewer heard numerous stories from HMPPS staff that the phrase ‘convert or get hurt’ was commonly used by some Muslim gangs, and copies of the Quran would be left on the beds of new prisoners,” he added, referring to a 2019 Ministry of Justice report.

Bloom said that failure to identify as a Muslim meant new prisoners risked being denied "protection" and potentially being subjected to violence and intimidation.

The faith adviser further urged the Government to undertake an urgent review of prisoners “allegedly being coercively converted and radicalised in prison”, as well as the issue of faith-based gangs, reports the Daily Express.

“This will help identify any gaps in services that allow these issues to flourish, compromising the human rights and safety of prisoners, and the effectiveness of HMPPS as a rehabilitative system,” he said.

"Such a review should include a willingness and commitment to investigate cases where prison staff or volunteers had colluded to enable extremism to thrive, either via retraining or removing them from service," Bloom added.

With respect to education, Colin Bloom also voiced concerns about registered religious schools such as yeshivas, madrassahs and Sunday schools, which he said needed to be “appropriately registered and regulated”, the Daily Express reported.

The report also highlights instances of religious intolerance towards minority faiths.

However, Bloom recommended what he termed “faith literary” lessons for public sector workers including those in the NHS workers, teachers and civil servants, as per a Daily Express report.

The Government is due to respond to the report in due course, the UK-based newspaper reported.