Tackling Extremism in the UK: Part I

Part I of the Tackling Extremism in the UK report

see Tackling Extremism in the UK: A mandate for secret criminalisation for part II

In the wake of the killing of Lee Rigby, a soldier in the British army who served in Afghanistan, the UK government established a task force in order to set out proposals for the way they would tackle ‘extremism’ within Muslim communities. As a late addition to this process, the government included references to far-right extremism in light of the murder of Birmingham resident, Mohammed Saleem, and due to a series of attacks against mosques in the West Midlands.

The ideologically driven report by the Government’s Task Force must be questioned in terms of this disingenuous attempt to present what it considers to be issues relating

to ‘extremism’ in the UK. The report provides no evidence base for its assumptions, rather it has based its findings on closed door discussions with undisclosed individuals

or groups, only lending credibility to the view that only those invited to partake in the review, were those who would acquiesce a predetermined ideological view taken by

this government.

The following report is an effort by CAGE to highlight the problems with the analysis and suggestions presented by the Task Force. Communities should understand the

difficulties that such a document poses to the legitimate practice of the Islamic faith in the UK, but further should understand the impact that such a strategy can have on

wider civil liberties and freedom of expression and religion in the UK.