MEND-Labour ties bust

The New Arab,Labour cuts ties with Muslim org labelled 'Islamist' by Gove, 3 Apr 2024 "The Labour Party has cut ties with a prominent Muslim organisation after the UK government's Communities Secretary Michael Gove said the non-profit would be investigated for extremism."

'Extremism' Perspectives and Discussions

While this discussion is not/should not be exclusively associated with Muslims in the UK, there are underlying themes in the discourse, which I have attempted to highlight and record here for reseaarch purposes.

Adam Bienkov, Josiah Mortimer, Byline Times, Michael Gove Expected to Drop Plans to Put Muslim Council of Britain in List of ‘Extremist’ Groups, 13 Mar 2024

Hope Not Hate Report 2024 (PDF)

If Gove is confident in his views about the Muslim Association of Britain and other organisations, alleging extremist views and a threat to UK society, we challenge him to state them outside parliament. However, due to the fear of legal challenges, we know he lacks the courage… https://t.co/tXbHB80cU4

— Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) (@MABOnline1) March 14, 2024

‘We’re easy to scapegoat’: Muslim Council chief baffled by Tory ‘extremism’ label https://t.co/i1eDvF8e9m

— Zara Mohammed (@ZaraM01) March 14, 2024

Our Secretary-General @ZaraM01, on BBC Newsnight this evening on the Government’s expansion on the definition of extremism. https://t.co/ywbL50UHWT

— MCB (@MuslimCouncil) March 13, 2024

Michael Gove is asked if saying an MP should be shot is an extremist view & would it fall under his new definition of extremism. Gove won't say

Goves new definition is meant to stop govt money going to extremists & Frank Hesters company gets lots of govt contracts. pic.twitter.com/bOPmxvdl5W

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) March 14, 2024

"It's unfortunately a part of my daily life... I think it is incredibly frightening."

Apsana Begum, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, says that as an ethnic minority politician she often faces racist abuse and wants to see institutional reforms to address this. #Newsnight pic.twitter.com/FAtaEXsHDt

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) March 13, 2024

This is a must watch to understand the thinking behind the latest announcements on extremism by Michael Gove.
Also remember his comments in his book as reviewed by @DalrympleWill - I quote
“Worth pointing out how @MicGove opposed Oslo and the Two State Solution in his terrible… https://t.co/30o5rqiGwp

— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) March 14, 2024

“Words matter, we’ve had two MPs who have been murdered… There has to be accountability…”

Labour’s @DrRosena responds to the Conservative Party’s handling of reported racist comments about Diane Abbott by Tory donor Frank Hester#Peston pic.twitter.com/IyoCObsz7c

— Peston (@itvpeston) March 13, 2024

'Islamophobia' definition issues

Basit Mahmood, Hyphen, The UK government should renew its efforts to define Islamophobia, 3 Mar 2023 "By dropping its work in this area, the government risks being complicit in a surge of abuse of British Muslims"

Prevent Programme Criticised

BBC News, Prevent counter-terror scheme lambasted in review "The report from the Home Office's hand-picked reviewer says the Prevent strategy has lost its way."

Prevent and NHS

Aida Hassan, The New Arab, Interrupting care: How Prevent undermines Muslims’ access to UK’s public health sector, 22 June 2022 "Under assault by large swathes of the UK's public sector, British Muslims struggle to gain the access required to remedy their deep-seated issues. In particular, Prevent has infiltrated public health infrastructure, causing disproportionate damage." This is a must-read. It also points to the Medact, 2020 report False Positives: the Prevent counter-extremism policy in healthcare

Islamophobia adviser ignored

Kaya Burgess, The Times, PM and Gove have ignored me, says Islamophobia adviser "Imam Qari Asim, who was asked to help draw up a definition of Islamophobia, says letters and emails have gone unanswered in the more than two years since the government appointed him."

Sewell Report

Plenty of coverage of the Sewell Report on my Twitter, but here are a few key items: Kalwant Bhopal, Guardian, The Sewell report displays a basic misunderstanding of how racism works

"The government must move away from perpetuating a hierarchy of oppression that promotes the idea of white victimhood and discounts race inequity as a lesser problem. The result of refusing to acknowledge institutional racism is that the government will refuse to act upon it. Instead, Black and minority ethnic children will be blamed for their failings. The commission’s denial of institutional racism is based on an illusory meritocracy, where individuals are wholly responsible for their own success, and Black and ethnic minority pupils must simply work harder and pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they are to succeed."

PRESS RELEASE: Muslim Council of Britain responds to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report | 31 March 2021#RaceReport #SewellReport https://t.co/AE6aN0pXDA

— MCB (@MuslimCouncil) March 31, 2021

Patel Criticised

Guardian, Priti Patel’s plan to tackle radicalised youth is so flawed it’s mad, says study, "Rather than rolling out more draconian measures to contain “risk”, the Youth Empowerment and Innovation Project, part funded by the Home Office, found that offering encouragement to youngsters and addressing factors such as social exclusion was a better way to mitigate violent youth radicalisation." I haven't seen the report yet. It's available here.

Mosque Security

Guardian, UK Muslim leaders seek funding for mosque security, 18 Mar 2019 "Harun Khan, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, will be writing to the prime minister raising the “palpable sense of fear” felt by Muslim communities after the attack in Christchurch which claimed 50 lives, and warning of the risk of copycat attacks in the UK."

Forced Marriages

Pragna Patel, Charging forced marriage victims rescue fees is a Foreign Office racket, 3 Jan 2019 (opinion piece) "Victims have no choice but to pay for protection when fleeing lives of horrific violence. These fees are wrong, and must end."

Official Statistics, Hate crime, England and Wales, 2017 to 2018

Home Office, gov.uk, Official Statistics, Hate crime, England and Wales, 2017 to 2018 "Statistics on hate crimes recorded by the police and information on hate crime from the Crime Survey for England and Wales."

Casey Review (updated)

gov.uk, The Casey Review: a review into opportunity and integration [pdf]

BBC News, Segregation at 'worrying levels' in parts of Britain, Dame Louise Casey warns "Segregation and social exclusion are at "worrying levels" and are fuelling inequality in some areas of Britain, a report has found.

"Women in some communities are denied "even their basic rights as British residents", the Casey Review said."

The report has generated a variety of comments and opinions, of which this is a small selection:

Guardian, Why do so many Muslim women find it hard to integrate in Britain?

Aina Khan, Guardian,  Guardian, Sorry, Louise Casey, but Muslim women are held back by discrimination 

Julia Rampen, New Statesman, The 8 bits of good news about integration buried in the Casey Review

The Sun,  Government officials spent more on Cornish language lessons than on English ones for struggling Brits, reveals damning report

Sadia Habib, Sociological Review, It’s the Government’s Unbritish Values and Intolerance That Is the Problem, Not Muslims (opinion piece)

Gani sues Fallon

Guardian, Suliman Gani sues Michael Fallon over claim he backed Isis, 11 May 2016 "Defence secretary is facing legal action after saying, during London mayoral race, that Muslim cleric supported Islamic State."

Revealed: UK's covert propaganda bid to stop Muslims joining Isis

Guardian, Revealed: UK's covert propaganda bid to stop Muslims joining Isis, 2 May 2016 "In a sign of mounting anxiety across Whitehall over the persuasiveness of Islamic State’s online propaganda, a secretive Home Office unit has developed a discreet multimillion pound counter-messaging operation that it says privately is running at “industrial pace and scale”."

Theresa May set to urge UK's Muslims to help fight extremism

Guardian, Theresa May set to urge UK's Muslims to help fight extremism "The Home secretary will say the freedoms on offer in the UK come with “responsibilities” to respect the way others live, democracy, equality and the rules of law."

Hijab first in parliament

Hijab first in parliament - Yahoo! News UK:

"A 16-year-old girl is thought to have become the first person to speak from the House of Commons despatch box while wearing a hijab, The Times reported."

Report. Roots of violent radicalisation

Home Affairs Committee - Nineteenth Report. Roots of violent radicalisation, 31 Jan 2012

Commons Select Committee, MPs urge internet providers to tackle on-line extremism  "The Committee concludes that the internet is one of the most significant vehicles for promoting violent radicalism - more so than prisons, universities or places of worship, although direct, personal contact with radicals is in many cases also a significant factor. Witnesses told the Committee that the internet played a part in most, if not all, cases of violent radicalisation."

smh.com.au, UK lawmakers: Most radicalism linked to Internet, 6 Feb 2012

Prevent strategy

Home Office, Prevent strategy 2011

"The Prevent strategy has been re-focused following a review. The strategy now contains three objectives: to respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat from those who promote it; to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support; and to work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address."

There's a set of pdfs on the page, including versions in Arabic and Urdu.


I have yet to read any of these documents in detail.

Home Office sets out plan to block websites

ZDNet, Home Office sets out plan to block websites, 8 Jun 2011 "The government is considering a national blocklist to prevent people in state-funded networks from accessing websites that promote Islamic fundamentalism and other extremist views."

Prevent strategy

eGov, Counter-Terrorism: Home Secretary Theresa May Launches "Radically Different Prevent" Strategy, 8 Jun 2011

OnIslam, New Extremism Policy Alarms UK Muslims, 8 Jun 2011 "Muslim groups were united Wednesday, June 8, in criticizing a new revamped government policy to fight extremism, warning that the strategy fuels anti-Muslim sentiments and stigmatizes the sizable minority."

Also see Yorkshire Post, Leeds and Bradford to lead renewed drive against Islamist terror, 8 Jun 2011 "Ministers have identified Leeds and Bradford as being among 25 areas where funding will be targeted. They hope to stop British Muslims being radicalised with a new focus on tackling pro-terrorist ideologies and on challenging extremism in schools, universities and on the internet."

Expect further updates on this ...