At a full council meeting, Liberal Democrat Rabina Khan, supported by two Conservatives members, tabled a budget amendment that would see cash taken from the communications budget and given to the Prevention of Violent Extremism Family Support Team. The motion was submitted last minute after the publicity surrounding IS teenager Shamima Bergum – one of
For the last two years, I have increasingly seen Prevent practitioners and those who sympathise with Prevent argue that increased far-right referrals prove it is a fair and non-discriminatory policy. With an “independent” review of the policy coming up, it’s worth disposing of this myth once and for all. Read more
Anyone who views terrorist propaganda once online can be jailed for up to 15 years under new laws that have sparked human rights concerns. MPs had urged the government to scrap plans to criminalise viewing “information useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”, which goes further than much-used laws that made
The Home Office is facing calls to release a report called Leftwing Activism and Extremism in the UK, which has been prepared by its extremism analysis unit (EAU). Jenny Jones, one of several politicians and activists whose inclusion on a domestic extremist database previously caused a furore, are among those expressing concerns about the report
London – CAGE is alarmed that attendees to an Islamophobia Awareness Month event at Kingston University had their data ‘leaked’ – in a serious breach of data protection – to PREVENT. Students have long campaigned against PREVENT and the subsequent securitisation of campuses, which has stifled students’ ability to organise on their campuses. Read more
A European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment in January, in a case brought by veteran peace campaigner John Catt, is extremely significant for the future of protest surveillance. For seven years John has argued that the decision by the police to retain extensive surveillance data about him on the secretive National Domestic Extremism Database
A forthcoming review of the Prevent anti-terror programme is an opportunity for long-standing critics to "stand up and be counted", a chief constable has said. Simon Cole, the national policing lead for the scheme, challenged those who have complained of a "lack of independent analysis and oversight" to use their chance to influence policy and
An upcoming review of the Prevent anti-terrorism programme is an opportunity for long-standing critics to “stand up and be counted”, a chief constable has said. Simon Cole, the national policing lead for the scheme, challenged those who have complained of a “lack of independent analysis and oversight” to use their chance to influence policy and
New guidance that will protect lawful free speech and empower students and universities has been unveiled by ten leading organisations to ensure campuses still remain a forum for open and robust enquiry. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has collaborated with leading organisations from across the sector to develop new guidance to be used by
I write this having spoken at countless and the most prestigious universities across the UK, on topics such as the need to eradicate torture, to achieve accountability for violence by state and non-state actors in the name of the "war on terror," and the dangers of the British government's "Prevent" policy. I have frequently spoken