Ben Habib argued in a April 2026 video that Islam, as practiced in the UK, is not compatible with British democracy.
He cited two examples—Trinity College remarks and the Batley teacher controversy—to highlight differences in responses to free speech.
Habib emphasized that freedom of speech is central to UK democracy and questioned its application in cases involving Islam.
In a video published in April 2026, Ben Habib, the leader of Advance UK, explained why he believes Islam as a religion is not compatible with the governance of the United Kingdom. He referred to a speech he delivered at the Oxford Union, where he argued that Islam as practiced in the UK is not aligned with Britain’s liberal democracy.
He said that he is not interested in whether Islam is compatible with the concept of democracy in general, but rather whether it is compatible with the United Kingdom. “I'm only interested in whether Islam is compatible with our democracy in the United Kingdom,” he said, adding that as a British citizen, for him it is not a theoretical debate but a practical one.
He questioned, “Where is Islam at the moment? And where is our liberal democracy in the United Kingdom?” He then went on to explain his point through two examples. First, he referred to an incident involving a dean at Trinity College. He said, “Two years ago, the dean of Trinity College defended a junior fellow at Evensong when he described Jesus as being transgender and the wound on Jesus's chest that he received from a Roman spear as resembling a vagina.”
He added that the dean still holds his position at the college. The incident attracted some public criticism at the time, but it subsided quickly. “He still has his job at Trinity College, Cambridge,” Habib said. He then cited another example involving a grammar school teacher from Batley.
He said that “the grammar school teacher in Batley who circulated some caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad was threatened with his life after circulating those pictures, was removed from his post immediately by his school, and still lives in hiding.” He drew a comparison between these two incidents and said that this reflects the current situation in the United Kingdom.
He further stated, “Now, it might be that Islam can find its way to being compatible with democracy, but I can find no sense of the freedom of speech evident in the way that that grammar school teacher was treated.” He added that freedom of speech is the cornerstone of the UK and British democracy.
He then argued that Islam, as a religion, is completely incompatible with democracy. Referring again to the Batley incident, he said the teacher is still living in hiding and fearing for his life for actions taken in the United Kingdom in 2024.
“So let me just talk a little bit about Islam,” he said. He described the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as the word of God, conveyed to Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel, and argued that because it is considered perfect, it does not allow for criticism.
“And because it is perfect, it has no truck with criticism. Compare that to the, frankly, absurd description offered up by the dean of Trinity College two years ago,” he said. He added that if similar remarks had been made about Prophet Muhammad, the consequences would have been very different.
By drawing this comparison, he argued that Islam is not compatible with British democracy, where freedom of speech is considered fundamental.
Ben Habib, also known as Benyamin Naeem Habib, is a former Member of the European Parliament. He is currently the leader of Advance UK, a political party in the United Kingdom, and previously served as co-deputy leader of Reform UK. Advance UK was launched in 2024 under the name Integrity Party and was relaunched in June 2025 under its current name.
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