Raheem Kassam calls Islam a ‘fascistic ideology’ on BBC as he defends Tommy Robinson’s EDL threat ‘Full force’ quote referred to street protests, Kassam claimed.

Raheem Kassam has described Islam as a “fascistic and totalitarian ideology” in a BBC interview defending right-wing leader Tommy Robinson after his release on bail.

The former Ukip leadership candidate, who was raised Muslim, denied that there was anything contentious in a quote from Robinson in which he threatened all Muslims in Britain with the “full force” of the EDL.

Martha Kearney, a presenter on Radio 4’s Today programme, interviewed Kassam from Washington DC where he is raising money for Robinson, and linking up with former Donald Trump Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, for a project to unite “patriotic nationalist parties” in Europe.

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Kearney quoted Robinson saying: “Every single Muslim watching this, on 7/7 you got away with killing and maiming British citizens.

“You had better understand that we have built a network from one end of the country to the other end and the Islamic community will feel the full force of the English Defence League if we see any of our British citizens killed, maimed or hurt on British soil ever again.”

‘What’s contentious there?’

In response, Kassam asked, “What’s contentious there?” He denied that it could be interpreted as a threat and claimed the “full force of the English Defence League” phrase referred to street protests.

“I was still a practicing Muslim back then and I didn’t feel threatened by that,” he added, claiming that the “fascistic” religion of Islam could be differentiated from individual Muslims.

Kassam is a former adviser to Nigel Farage, former editor-in-chief of Breitbart UK and a board member of numerous right-wing think tanks including the Gatestone Institute. Former Ukip leadership rival Suzanne Evans once expressed fears that he would lead the party towards the far right.

When asked about Robinson’s legal history of violence and fraud, Kassam retorted: “Are you saying that you don’t believe that people can’t change?”

Antediluvian law

The interview caused consternation among opponents of Kassam and Robinson, and comes as new figures revealed that the Today programme has lost 800,000 listeners in the past year.

Robinson was released on bail after a hearing yesterday amid an appeal against a contempt of court conviction for filming at a courthouse despite reporting restrictions.

Kassam made the case that the law itself is “antediluvian” and should not apply.

“Anybody can watch that video – it’s still available online – and see that he didn’t point the finger at anybody and say ‘you’re guilty, you’re wrong, you’re this, you’re that’,” he said.

“He was quoting from the Guardian newspaper while standing outside a courtroom. If that makes someone guilty then the Guardian editors should be held in contempt as well.

‘No truck with racialist politics’

He said that Robinson does not expect to be jailed again over the contempt of court charge.

When asked about his plan to help Bannon set up shop in Europe, he said the organisation would have “no truck with racialist politics”.

He concluded by calling for Nigel Farage to return to lead Ukip to boost its name recognition.

Amid questions about Kassam’s suitability to appear on a mainstream platform, a BBC spokesman said: “Martha Kearney’s interview robustly challenged Raheem Kassam’s opinions and assertions on Tommy Robinson and Islam. She also clearly explained the legal points around his release on bail and impending re-trial.

“We believe our job is to give our audience facts, analysis and information, especially in the case of contentious issues which are surrounded by misinformation.”