ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

The head of an extreme Islamist party which has defended murdering blasphemers was “honoured” at a London town hall in the presence of the local mayor, the Standard has learned.

Senator Siraj ul Haq, head of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami party, was given an “award” — a plaque bearing the borough’s coat of arms — in recognition of his visit at Waltham Forest council.

A report leaked to the Standard reveals the event was one of many arranged by the father of a Waltham Forest councillor and in some cases a convicted fraudster, both having gained privileged access to the Mayor’s Parlour.

Pictures show Haq receiving the plaque from then mayor Saima Mahmud. A post on Haq’s Facebook page from August last year claims he received it “in honour” of his visit.

The party is reported to have links to extremists and Haq has opposed Pakistan’s Women’s Protection Act — which protects female victims of violence — for going against Sharia law.

Rupert Sutton, an extremism researcher at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, said: “The Jamaat-e-Islami leadership has a history of extreme and intolerant views. It’s hardly a suitable organisation for a British local council to be associated with. This should raise serious concerns.”

The news comes after the Standard revealed in April how local blogger Khalid Malik was also given a plaque in the Mayor’s Parlour for his “good content”. Mr Malik sparked outrage after a post appeared on his online news channel’s Facebook page praising a fanatic who murdered a politician in Pakistan for supporting liberal reforms to its strict Islamic laws.

Waltham Forest launched an investigation as a result, which found that:

Dr Shaukat Khan, 67, found guilty in 1993 of fraudulently stealing thousands in public funds, has been “arranging” events with the mayor of Waltham Forest for visitors from China.

Councillor Ahsan Khan’s father Allah Khan, who set up the Haq and Malik events, has arranged access to the Mayor’s Parlour “for a number of years”.

The video on Mr Malik’s site was “religiously extremist”, with at least one other post of a Jewish man potentially “damaging to community cohesion” because of its “anti-Semitic” imagery.

There are “one or two members of the community who appear to have the ability to arrange access to the Mayor and Mayor’s Parlour, where others may not necessarily know how to”.

Waltham Forest today said it has “tightened up” procedures for use of the Mayor’s quarters. The report, by barrister Jonathan Auburn, called such events “extremely low-level” and said it would not have been “proportionate” for council members to check the social media accounts of all individuals.

It found no council member, officer or employee played any role in deciding who to invite, but that “requests from Mr Khan senior [Allah] were usually made at short notice and there was a large degree of trust in his judgment”.

Dr Khan, who used his Nottingham office in the Nineties to defraud more than £10,000, denied “arranging” any of the events and said he simply “facilitated” some. He said none he was involved in were for guests from Pakistan and Allah Khan organised most.

Allah Khan did not respond to requests for comment, but Councillor Khan confirmed his father arranged the Haq and Malik events. He added: “I completely disagree with his [Haq’s] views and those of Khalid Malik.”