Quilliam founder Maajid Nawaz warns far-right extremists and Islamist terrorists are provoking 'civil war’

The UK is facing the prospect of a ‘civil war’, according to the head of a counter-extremism group.

Maajid Nawaz, who co-founded the Quilliam Foundation think-tank, said that “extremists from both sides” had the most to gain in the wake of the Finsbury Park terror attack.

Arguing that recent Islamist attack in the UK have fuelled hatred on opposing sides, Mr Nawaz said that Britain faces a gloomy future unless the ideologies are tackled.

He said: “The recent ISIS-inspired terror attacks have been deliberate military tactics carried out with the intention to divide and polarise our society. ISIS have told us this.

“In polarised societies, people tend to take refuge in extreme positions.

“Only the extremists on both sides gain from this downward spiral to provoking civil war.”

MORE: Finsbury Park terror attack: Sajid Javid comforts distraught woman after terror
MORE: Footage shows moment suspected Finsbury Park attacker was arrested

He added: “Civil society must stand up to extremism in all its forms.

“The desire to impose Islam and the desire to ban Islam are simply two ends to a lit fuse that can only lead to chaos.”

Mr Nawaz was speaking just hours after a man ploughed into worshippers observing Ramadan near the Finsbury Park mosque on Seven Sisters Road in north London.

One person was killed while at least 10 others were injured.

Eyewitnesses said the suspect, who was taken away by police after being guarded by a local imam, was shouting that he wanted to “kill all Muslims”.

Police confirmed that they were treating the attack as an act of terrorism.

Top pic: Rex