Nigel Farage exploded after the job advert was posted on the DWP website.
Nigel Farage slammed the job advert on social media after it appeared. (Image: GETTY)
A job advert shared by the DWP for a “sharia law administrator” has been taken down after a furious backlash from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. While the DWP shared the advert, it was for the independent company, Manchester Community Centre. The MP for Clacton took to X yesterday to slam the Manchester-based advert, which paid £23,500 per year.
Any successful candidate would be required to conduct interviews with individuals and families to assess and review their requirements, provide information and support to clients, and perform administrative work for Manchester Shariah Council, a local community charity. Nigel Farage said yesterday: “Our country and its values are being destroyed.”
Reform Westminster City Councillor for Lancaster Gate, Laila Cunningham, wrongly claimed: “This is a government-funded job, paid for by British taxpayers to promote Sharia law on our soil. It’s disgusting.
“It undermines our country, our laws, and everything we stand for. One British law, no exceptions, no appeasement.”
The issue of sharia law in the UK has proved controversial for many years, with Conservative and Reform UK politicians often sounding the alarm over its prevalence in society and the presence of sharia courts across the country.
According to the Telegraph, 85 sharia courts were operating in the UK at the end of last year, with an increasing number of Brits turning to them to issue Islam-inspired rulings on family life and matrimonial matters.
Sharia courts, often referred to as “sharia councils”, consist of a panel of Islamic scholars who are almost always male, have the religious authority to end marriages at the request of a wife if her husband is unwilling to grant a divorce.
Most Sharia councils are set up to make decisions on purely religious matters, but none can overrule the regular courts, meaning that marriages under Sharia have no legal foundation in the UK.
Tory MP Nick Timothy told the Times that sharia marriages “should be criminalised if they are conducted without the protections of an accompanying civil marriage.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “This is a position being advertised on the Find A Job portal by an independent registered charity and is not within DWP.
“Find A Job is a free platform to help job seekers find vacancies with employers from various sectors.”
