Britain is still failing to confront Islamism

How time flies. In March 2014, quite out of the blue, I was commissioned by then prime minister David Cameron to lead an internal review designed to inform and improve the government’s understanding of the Muslim Brotherhood. It’s been six years since I delivered what has become known as the Muslim Brotherhood Review. And on 17 December, it will be exactly five years since Cameron reported on its main conclusions to the House of Commons.

I made it clear before I started that if I accepted the commission, I would need the freedom to conduct my own research, travel widely and have proper support within Whitehall. I would look at Islamism in the round, not simply the Brotherhood variety. And I would write the review myself, in my own way and with my own conclusions – while remaining in post as ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

We worked fast. Within four months, I had travelled beyond Riyadh and London to Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.