10 August 2009

Government seeks to recast relations with British Muslims

The communities secretary, John Denham, is to attempt a fresh start in the government's relationship with British Muslims after acknowledging that mistakes have been made in the drive against violent extremism in the UK.

Denham said he wanted to see a clear policy shift away from defining the government's relationship with Muslim communities entirely in terms of tackling extremism. New, revised guidance on the operation of the £45m Prevent strategy, which is intended to challenge violent extremist ideology and disrupt those who promote it, is to be drawn up this summer. [Guardian] Read more

Prevent scheme is alienating Muslim communities and should be scrapped The Government's flagship scheme on tackling extremism is alienating Muslim communities and should be scrapped according to a new report. The New Local Government Network (NLGN) think tank is calling for the £45million scheme to focus on tackling all extremism – including far-right extremists – rather than just focusing on Islamic extremism. [Islamophobia Watch] Read more See Also: [Harry’s Place] Read See Also: [Pickled Politics] Read