Authorities chose not to prosecute a London-born Shia preacher despite repeated referrals to counter-terrorism police over his public backing for Hezbollah.
The decision, which drew sharp criticism from Conservative shadow ministers in the first half of July 2026, has laid bare what critics describe as a persistent reluctance to confront Islamist networks operating inside the United Kingdom. Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy seized on the case to highlight a deeper failure of priority.
Prosecutors have been willing to enforce de facto blasphemy laws using the Public Order Act, yet expressing support for actual terrorism violence goes unpunished. It is time we targeted enforcement and prosecutions at where the real threat lies – from Islamist extremists.
Timothy made the statement on 8 July as details of the preacher's record circulated. Sayed Hussain Makke has mourned Hezbollah members, including a British friend who died fighting for the group. He has also mourned members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Records show he trained under a senior Hezbollah figure at a seminary in Lebanon.
Makke has declared he would choose Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah over his own daughter and has called Nasrallah one of the world's greatest freedom fighters. He attended the funerals of both Nasrallah and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran. In Britain he hosts an annual five-day spiritual warrior camp in Derbyshire, providing young men with religious and physical training. He speaks regularly on university campuses and sells a libido-boosting oil.
Multiple reports have been made to counter-terrorism police concerning his support for the group, which has been fully proscribed in the UK since 2019. Yet security minister Dame Angela Eagle informed shadow home minister Alicia Kearns that specialist officers had carried out a detailed assessment. The material, she said, did not meet the threshold for any offence under terrorism or other legislation.
This Government is clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
Eagle's assurance came in a letter that failed to satisfy Conservative critics. Kearns urged the minister to gain control of her brief and ensure that official statements on antisemitism were matched by concrete enforcement.
