Cameron govt unveils new counter-extremism measures
STRINGENT To seize 16-17-yr-olds’ passports to prevent them from joining terror groups
LONDON: The David Cameron government on Monday unveiled what it called a new ‘counterextremism strategy’ to deal with growing threats to British values, stating that the country could no longer be “too tolerant of intolerance”.
The strategy document includes measures such as allowing the police to seize passports of 16 and 17-year-old people. Security officials believe over 700 people Britons had travelled to Syria in recent months to join the Islamic State.
According to the document, “the greatest current challenge comes from the global rise of Islamic extremism… (but it) is not the only threat, as seen by the vicious actions of a number of extreme right-wing and neoNazi groups”.
Cameron wrote in the document’s foreword: “In responding to this poisonous ideology, we face a choice. Do we close our eyes, put our kid gloves on and just hope that our values will somehow endure in the end? Or do we get out there and make the case for those values, defend them with all that we’ve got and resolve to win the battle of ideas all over again?”
He added: “In the past, I believe governments made the wrong choice. Whether in the face of Islamist or neo-Nazi extremism, we were too tolerant of intolerance, too afraid to cause offence. We seemed to lack the strength and resolve to stand up for what is right, even when the damage being done by extremists was all too clear.”
The strategy attracted criticism from Islamic groups. Secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain Shuja Shafi accused Cameron of a “misguided ‘conveyor-belt theory’ analysis that conflates terrorism with subjective notions of extremism and Islamic practices”.
He said in a statement: “Whether it is in mosques, education or charities, the strategy will reinforce perceptions that all aspects of Muslim life must undergo a ‘compliance’ test to prove our loyalty to this country.”
“These measures could be seen more as a means to address the anxieties a minority of people may have against Muslims and their religious life, rather than the scourge of terrorism itself.”