Shakeel Begg, an imam, was said to have encouraged religious violence

Labour activists were condemned for inviting a known extremist preacher to an anti-racism rally.

Shakeel Begg, an imam, was listed as a speaker at a Lewisham Labour Against Racism meeting on Tuesday, alongside two Labour MPs, local activists, trade unionists and students.

The rally in southeast London aimed to “challenge the hostile environment”, “stop Tommy Robinson’s far-right allies” and “oppose Islamophobia and antisemitism”. It was attended by many of the area’s prominent Labour officials.

Mr Begg, an imam at the Lewisham Islamic Centre, was declared “an extremist Islamic speaker who espouses extremist Islamic positions” by the High Court in 2016. The court ruled that he “recently promoted and encouraged religious violence by telling Muslims that violence in support of Islam would constitute a man’s greatest