.... Much of it is hype and window-dressing aimed at looking tougher than the previous government. Apparently a number of organisations will be denied funding because they don't subscribe to 'fundamental and universal' British values.
But there was no sign of anything simple but useful like banning the radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir (promised by the Conservatives in opposition) or making convicted terrorists serve their full sentences with no remission.
.... Gone is the idea that somehow there is a peaceful extremism - that rejoicing in the deaths of British soldiers abroad and rejecting democracy in favour of Sharia law is OK, it's only bombing that is dangerous. Cameron has correctly and courageously identified, in the teeth of Home Office opposition, that non-violent extremism "can create an atmosphere conducive to terrorism and popularise views which terrorists exploit". [Crispin Black, The First Post] Read more
