No, the Plymouth Brethren are not

a "cult" group. The "Exclusive" branch may be but even that is debatable. It is the "exclusive" branch under scrutiny at present.

Let it be said here I do not have a lot of time for any group that demands women wear skirts, head scarves, no make up and say they cannot have a cup of tea in my home. I have had some disturbing contact with them. The Senior Cat had problems with some of them in his last school. They try to socially isolate themselves and that cannot be good for anyone.

The "Brethren" are back in the news at present. There is a "joint committee into electoral affairs" (parliamentary) inquiry about their activities at the last election.  They are not required to vote. (They can claim that nobody but God has authority over them.) Some of them do vote, others do not.

It has not stopped others trying to suggest they attempted to interfere in the electoral process or that the church was behind some "stunts" which aimed to embarrass the Prime Minister. There is more than that.

I have also been quizzed by the same committee. It is a long time ago now and they did not much like what I had to say but thanked me and a small change was made as a result. I went in with actual evidence. There was no publicity. It is only when matters become controversial they make the news - or when what is being said might impact on the next election in the case of the electoral affairs committee.  This is what is happening here. Media reports suggest the group is "far right", that they are MAGA like. There have been suggestions that their leader is "like the Pope". 

The reality is that they are a very, very small group of people, around fifteen to sixteen thousand. Their influence on any political party would be minute - if there was any at all. Their leader may exert considerable influence but it is influence over the members of the group, not the wider community.

There have been attempts to claim that the behaviour of some members of the Brethren behaved in an intimidating fashion at some polling booths. That has been likened to the Spanish inquisition and religious persecution. The media loves this sort of thing of course. Their presence was evident at no more than a handful of polling booths and their behaviour was, according to other reports, no more or less intimidating than any other group. It suggests there might be other reasons for concern among those who hold very different but equally extreme views.