Books on sale include those by Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna.
Bookshops have been given visa sponsorship powers. (Image: Getty)
Islamic bookshops selling “anti-Semitic” writings by banned authors have purportedly been given the right to bring skilled migrants to Britain.
The Home Office has given powers to sponsor skilled worker visas to a number of bookshops, which have been used to bring dozens of people into the UK, it is reported.
Other businesses given these powers include newsagents and vape shops.
The skilled worker visa certificates were brought in in 2020 as part of post-Brexit changes and are overseen by UK Visas and Immigration.
Dozens of people have been brought to the UK (Image: Getty)
The Telegraph reports that one licensed bookshop in Birmingham has issued up to 16 skilled worker certificates since 2021. The shop sells items including Qutb’s Milestones, which argues for the overthrowing of all secular governments in favour of Islamic regimes.
There are also works on sale by Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna and banned cleric Bilal Philips, whose writings reportedly offer advice on wife-beating.
The books can all be legally sold in the UK and there is no suggestion that the bookshops have broken any rules.
But Lee Anderson, Reform MP for Ashfield, said: “It’s a perfect illustration of 14 years of Tory failure. Rather than doctors and engineers, we brought in staff for Islamic shops selling books on jihad.
“It is beyond belief that the Home Office did not realise this.
“It has failed in its basic function of vetting visa sponsors for the public good.”
It is understood that more than 120,000 organisations can legally issue certificates of visa sponsorship in the UK.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Thanks to our decisive action to raise the skilled salary threshold, these kinds of businesses are incredibly unlikely to get a licence approved.
“Companies must apply for the appropriate sponsor licence. The holding of a licence does not guarantee that it is in use nor that any sponsored visa application will be approved by the Home Office following a rigorous assessment process. Holding a sponsorship licence is no guarantee of a visa and all licences are determined on a case-by-case basis.
“To further protect the system from abuse, more than 100 occupations have been cut from overseas recruitment access. Meanwhile, skilled sponsor revocations went up by 950 per cent in 2025 compared to 2023.”