Chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing scrutiny over her repeated association with a Leeds community figure who has been accused of sharing conspiracy theory videos about the September 11 attacks and appearing alongside individuals with alleged extremist links.
Arshad Khatana, vice-chairman of Leeds Council of Mosques and a member of the Jamia Masjid Ghousia in Armley, is said to have been photographed with Reeves on at least two dozen occasions, including at his Yorkshire home, according to Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick.
The controversy centres on a number of posts and associations linked to Khatana. In 2019, he shared a video suggesting the September 11 attacks — in which 2,977 civilians died — had been covertly signalled in advance through American television programmes including The Simpsons. The video’s narrator claimed that media was being used to “psychologically train audiences for upcoming geopolitical change” and to “convey covert messages” by leaking information “in a subtle manner.”
That same year, Khatana also posted a video compilation featuring Riyaz Naikoo, a member of Hizbul Mujahideen — a group proscribed as a terror organisation in the European Union, Canada and the United States.
In September 2025, Khatana was photographed seated alongside Muhammad Adil Shahzad, who had previously made remarks discouraging the use of Google and other platforms, claiming they were “run by the Jews” and directing followers instead to Islamic scholars for information.
Jenrick described Reeves, who serves as MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, as having shown “an appalling lack of judgement” in her dealings with Khatana. “She has become very close to a local community leader in Leeds in order to save her own political skin,” he said. “But this man is a fanatic who has repeatedly shown that he holds shocking views.”
The former Conservative minister added: “We don’t want foreign issues and sectarian politics to dictate what happens in our parliament. Reeves must answer for this and explain why she has become so close to this man.”
The Chancellor’s office has not yet issued a public response to the allegations. The claims are expected to prompt further questions about the vetting of political associations at a constituency level, particularly given Reeves’s senior position within the current government.
