Countering International Terrorism: The battle of ideas
53. Speaking on 21 March 2006, the Prime Minister said: "This terrorism will not be defeated until its ideas, the poison that warps the minds of its adherents, are confronted, head-on, in their essence, at their core". The third area of action to counter radicalisation is therefore a battle of ideas, challenging the ideological motivations that extremists believe justify the use of violence. In particular, we are working with communities to help them discourage susceptible individuals from turning towards extremist activity.
Recent engagement with Ministers
Following the London bombings, the Prime Minister met 25 Muslim community leaders on 19 July 2005. The meeting was to make a united reinforcement of the need to work together to prevent extremism in our communities.
The Home Secretary subsequently chaired a meeting on 20 July 2005 with Muslim community leaders at which it was agreed to establish seven community-led working groups to develop recommendations for tackling extremism amongst our young people (see below).
The Ministers for Women held their biannual meeting with representatives of the Muslim Women's Network in October 2005 and discussed the role women can play in tackling extremism in Muslim communities. Membership of the network includes representatives from academia, non-governmental organisations and grass-roots community groups.
In November 2005, the Prime Minister attended a discussion group in Leeds of 50 people aged between 16 and 25 to find out about the challenges facing young British Muslims. As part of more general discussions about longer-term partnership between government and local communities, they looked at the way the media report on terrorism and Islam and about ways of finding a community-led response to extremism.
In February 2006, Dr Kim Howells met a group of successful and influential young Muslim men and women in Whitechapel, London and discussed the issues they chose to raise, from education to foreign policy. He then visited Ebrahim College to meet teachers and pupils of this innovative institution.
In May 2006, the Prime Minister and Ruth Kelly hosted an event for 40 Muslim women at Downing Street, aimed at boosting understanding of the community through meeting a wider range of people from within it.
54. The Government has been working with communities for many years to help shape policy and determine its objectives.
55. The Home Office has supported Muslim and other faith communities and encouraged their contribution to social cohesion and interfaith activities (work now being taken forward by the Department of Communities and Local Government). This has included establishing a Ministerial and Officials visits programme in January 2003 to listen to the concerns of Muslim communities; working with media organisations to improve perceptions of Muslim communities; working with the Police on protecting the Muslim community; and consulting with all faith communities on the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
56. Similarly, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been working with Muslim communities on a range of generic and country specific issues. Typical examples include setting up the British Hajj Delegation (providing consular support to British Hajj pilgrims) seven years ago, and regular Ministerial involvement in community events, such as Mike O'Brien's speech at the inaugural meeting of the Association of London Mosques in 2005. 57. Following the attacks in London last July, Home Office ministers visited nine towns and cities with large Muslim populations to consult them about how government could work with communities to prevent extremism. 1,000 British Muslims took part in these consultations and seven community-led working groups were set up under the banner of 'Preventing Extremism Together' (PET). The working groups produced 64 recommendations: 27 of these were for the Government to lead on, while the remainder were for communities themselves to work on, supported by Government where necessary.
58. Progress on the three principal recommendations, where the Government is supporting communities - a national grassroots-led campaign targeted at Muslim youth (the Scholars' Roadshow); Muslim Forums on Extremism and Islamophobia, and a Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board - is outlined below.
PET - Scholars' Roadshows
A series of national roadshows are taking place, led by British Muslim organisations and supported by Government. To date 20 influential mainstream Muslim scholars and thinkers have spoken to audiences of young British Muslims to propagate effective arguments against extremist justification for terrorism and denounce it as un-Islamic. Up to 30,000 people have attended the first seven of 12 roadshows and we expect more than 100,000 to attend in total.
PET - Muslim Forums against Extremism and Islamophobia
The creation of six regional forums led by key individuals to bring together members of local Muslim communities, law enforcement and public service agencies to discuss how to tackle extremism and Islamophobia in their area. The forums provide a safe space for sharing views and developing new thinking and action plans for dealing with extremism. The first three forums were held in late June and early July 2006.
PET - Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board
The Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board is an initiative led by Muslim communities, which aims to provide guidance and support to mosques and imams. A steering group of Muslim leaders has undertaken an extensive national consultation on matters such as the accreditation of imams, better governance of mosques, and interfaith activity. The steering group represents all sections of the Muslim community and published a good practice guide for mosques when the Advisory Board was formally launched on 27 June 2006.
59. Action has been agreed on all 27 of the recommendations for the Government. At the time of writing, action on three of the recommendations had already been completed - consultation on the Department for Education and Skills (new window) (DfES) 'Youth Matters' Green Paper; extending Equal Opportunities legislation to cover discrimination on the grounds of faith; and expanding the Muslim Ethnic Achievement project to improve the achievement levels of Muslim students. In a further 17 cases the Government has accepted the recommendation and work is in progress to implement it. For three recommendations the Government is still considering its response; for two more an alternative outcome has been put in place; and the remaining two recommendations are not being taken forward. Further information about progress on all the PET recommendations will be made available on the Department for Communities and Local Government's website (new window).
60. A key outcome of the PET initiative has been that representatives of many differing views within the British Muslim communities have worked with Government towards a single goal. This approach is continuing. Within the PET framework, a cross-government forum has been established to consider how to tackle extremism on campuses; outside PET, the Government is working with Muslim communities to improve their approach to tackling extremism - for example, funding the charity Forward Thinking to run a series of workshops across England with young Muslims on the role of Islam in a pluralistic society.
61. The Foreign Office is doing more to explain that our foreign policy is based upon striving for UK interests in a safe, just and prosperous world and to counter extremists' allegations that it has an anti-Islamic agenda. This means explaining better the reasons why, for example, we supported and continue to support action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many disagreed with the decisions to take military action in those countries. We respect those views. However, the UK Government intervened because of wider issues and not because these are Muslim countries. In fact, in the wider context of British foreign policy, we have done much to help and assist Muslims all over the world (see below).
UK support for Muslims across the world - general
Over the last five years, bilaterally and through other organisations, the UK Government has provided over £5.5 billion in international development assistance to much of the Muslim world.
UK support for Muslims across the world - specific
- Kosovo: The UK, as a part of NATO, played a leading role in the intervention in Kosovo, in order to avert a humanitarian catastrophe not seen in Europe since the Second World War, and has played a significant role in the subsequent reconstruction programme.
- Pakistan earthquake: The UK has been among the largest bilateral donors to earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts.
- Turkey: The UK is one of the strongest supporters of Turkey's EU membership.
- Kashmir: We are fully involved in supporting dialogue between India and Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir, emphasising that any durable solution must take into account the wishes of the peoples of Kashmir.
- Palestine: The UK Government is fully committed to a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. On top of our significant financial assistance to the Palestinians, we are focusing international efforts on helping to develop the institutions necessary for a viable Palestinian state.
- Bosnia: The UK supports the War Crimes Tribunal, bringing to justice those who committed crimes during the wars of the 1990s. The UK has also played a major role in the reconstruction of Bosnia, with over £20 million in bilateral assistance in the last two years.
- Darfur, Sudan: The UK is one of the largest bilateral donors in helping the victims of the crisis in Darfur. We are also fully engaged in support of the peace process.
- Afghanistan: The UK, as part of an international coalition, helped to remove the Taliban regime that both shielded the Al Qa'ida terrorist organisation and abused the human rights of Afghanistan's (Muslim) citizens.
- Iraq: The UK as part of an international coalition helped remove a regime that was a standing threat to neighbouring countries, and had viciously abused the human rights of its own - mostly Muslim - citizens.
62. We are also working to counter extremists' false characterisation of the UK as being a place where Muslims are oppressed. The Foreign Office and Home Office have, for example, facilitated a series of visits by delegations of British Muslims to 13 countries and additional visits are planned. A dedicated team of key language specialists works to explain British policies and the role of Muslims in British society, in print, visual and electronic media. The FCO's network of missions aboard is fully involved in this work.
63. The PREVENT programme is by its nature a long-term commitment, which will take time to show concrete results.
