LONDON: Qatar has been strongly criticized for its alleged funding of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK by a senior British Army veteran and counter-insurgency expert, who also called the group a “terrorist organization.”
Col. Tim Collins, who served in Northern Ireland and the second Iraq War, was speaking in Westminster and said the Muslim Brotherhood was a problem in the UK and that the government needed to challenge it more.
He also hit out at Qatar for allegedly funding the organization, questioning why the Gulf state would “hurt a friend” like the UK.
“(The Muslim Brotherhood) has been a problem and continues to be a problem in the United Kingdom and we need to challenge it — and indeed it is challenging our response to terrorism,” Collins told Arab News.
“The Qataris are actively funding this, what do they think they are doing?”
“We are a close ally and we stood by them in tumultuous times. They’ve been isolated in the Gulf yet we’ve stood by them, we have to ask them to show their friendship and comradeship and stop doing this,” he said.
Four years ago the UK government ordered a review into the Muslim Brotherhood. The result, the Jenkins Commission, concluded that the organization — while outwardly purporting peaceful means to promote its agenda — was willing to use violence and terror in pursuit of its long-term goals and that aspects of its ideology and tactics “are contrary to the (UK’s) national interests and security.”
Collins said he would go further and describe the Brotherhood as an out and out terror group.
“We have to work with allies and friends to reduce (the Muslim Brotherhood’s) influence.”
“We need to challenge it and to do so in such a way we don’t offend, isolate or alienate our Muslim population so we have to be very careful in how we do that.”
Qatar slammed for funding ‘terrorist’ Muslim Brotherhood in UK
Qatar slammed for funding ‘terrorist’ Muslim Brotherhood in UK
World Defense Show 2026: KPMG highlights human capital as strategic defense asset
KPMG published a series of four white papers as official knowledge partner for the World Defense Show 2026, reinforcing its commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s ambition to build a sovereign, future-ready defense ecosystem grounded in integrated capability development, localization, and digital readiness.
As global defense priorities evolve from procurement-led models toward capability-driven ecosystems, one of the papers in the defense integration series highlights a clear inflection point for the sector. According to KPMG analysis, defense localization in Saudi Arabia has increased from around 4 percent in 2018 to 24.9 percent in 2024, with the Kingdom targeting 50 percent localization by 2030. At the same time, local content across the defense sector has reached 40.7 percent, up from 38.4 percent in 2023, reflecting deeper integration across procurement, industrial participation, technology adoption, and workforce development.
KPMG’s findings emphasize that modern defense power is no longer defined by platforms and equipment alone, but by the ability to design, operate, integrate, and sustain advanced systems at scale. While technology, infrastructure, and capital investment remain critical enablers, the firm’s WDS position paper highlights that defense transformation has a significant human-capital focus, recognizing that skills, data literacy, and local expertise are essential to maximizing the performance, resilience, and sovereignty of advanced defense capabilities.
Christopher Moore, head of defense and security, said: “Saudi Arabia’s defense transformation has a significant human-capital focus, alongside major investments in technology, equipment, and industrial capacity. The progress we are seeing in localization and local content demonstrates that the Kingdom is not only acquiring advanced systems, but also building the skills, institutions, and operating models required to sustain them. Through our partnership with the World Defense Show, KPMG is proud to contribute insight and frameworks that help translate Vision 2030 ambition into operational readiness.”
This human-capital perspective forms part of a broader KPMG defense thought-leadership series developed for WDS 2026, which examines defense transformation through multiple, interconnected pillars. These include accelerating sovereign defense ecosystems, integrating business and technology infrastructure, financing future deterrence through public-private partnerships, strengthening industrial and technological autonomy, and building a future-ready defense workforce — reflecting KPMG’s holistic view of defense as an integrated national ecosystem.
KPMG’s research also situates Saudi Arabia’s progress within a global economic context. International benchmarks cited in the firm’s WDS analysis show that every $1 billion in defense manufacturing output in the US supports approximately 5,700 jobs, while the UK defense sector contributes around £25 billion ($34.2 billion) to GDP and sustains 260,000 skilled jobs. Across the EU, defense industries employ more than 1.6 million people and generate approximately 70 billion euros ($82.9 billion) in annual value. KPMG notes that similar dynamics are beginning to emerge in Saudi Arabia as localization accelerates and private-sector participation expands.
To support measurable progress, KPMG has proposed a Defense Workforce Capability Index — a framework that links workforce outcomes directly to operational readiness. The index tracks localization rates, technical qualification levels in advanced and digital systems, and the share of maintenance and sustainment conducted domestically, aligning human-capital metrics with broader defense performance objectives.
Taking place in Riyadh from Feb. 8 to 12, the World Defense Show will bring together senior government leaders, defense manufacturers, and technology innovators from around the world. The other three papers in the defense integration series focus on sovereignty, financing and technology.
