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Prevent 2.0 means money for Luton – but who is winning the argument within Government about the meaning of integration?
1 comment on Prevent 2.0 means money for Luton – but who is winning the argument within Government about the meaning of integration?Yesterday the Home Secretary Theresa May announced the conclusions of the review of the Government’s counter-radicalisation strategy designed to tackle home grown terrorism and violent extremism, known as Prevent, by the independent reviewer of anti-terrorist laws Lord Carlile of Berriew. Prevent was set up in 2007 and proved to be controversial. Both from many members of Britain’s Muslim community who felt it unfairly targeted them and from others who saw the policy as being confused…
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EDL demo cost taxpayers nearly £2m
The local press are reporting that the policing of the EDL rally that was held in Luton earlier this year cost nearly £2m. The good news is that the Home Office has agreed to reimburse Bedfordshire Police for the full costs. However, you can’t help thinking that the money would have been better spent elsewhere. It also doesn’t include the amount lost to shops and other businesses as a result of the town centre being…
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Cameron is wrong: multiculturalism has worked
Last Saturday wasn’t a particularly pleasant day for me for more than one reason. At the same time as I was witnessing how the people of Luton had been excluded from their own town centre by the EDL, David Cameron was making a speech in Munich that was reported as declaring that “multiculturalism had failed”. At the time I felt, as did a number of other people I spoke to, that by making this speech…
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Follow up after the EDL rally
After a busy week I want to try and catch up on blogging related things this evening. Although I feel I’ve probably written too much about the unfortunate rally by the English Defence League in Luton last weekend, I thought ought to do a post to follow up. If you haven’t seen it, I wrote about my experience on the day here. Luton rapidly got back to normal after the events on Saturday as the…
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Eyewitness report of today’s EDL rally in Luton
Today hasn’t been a particularly pleasant one. It is not a nice thing to feel uncomfortable walking around your own home town, which is how I felt today. As I write this up I am feeling a little drained and unsettled. I chose to go into the town centre today to see the rally by the English Defence League and the counter demonstration by Unite Against Fascism. As a local councillor I felt that I…
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2nd update on the EDL rally in Luton planned for the 5th February
It is now less than a week until the rally planned by the English Defence League in Luton for the 5th February 2011. I’ve been blogging about this unwelcome event, which is causing anxiety within Luton’s communities and significant public expense, because I feel it is important that correct information about what is happening is distributed as widely as possible. The Bedfordshire Police have now issued a statement about what is being arranged for Saturday…
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Update on the EDL rally in Luton planned for the 5th February
It is now about a fortnight until the rally planned by the English Defence League in Luton for the 5th February 2011. This unwelcome event is causing anxiety within Luton’s communities and requiring considerable work from local agencies and bodies. So I thought I would post a brief update with the latest information I have about this event. Firstly, earlier this month a letter, signed by all three party leaders on Luton Borough Council, was…
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Personal views on Luton and extremism
Following up on yesterday’s post about Luton and extremism, I thought I would link to a few articles giving personal views on the issue from people who live or grew up in the town. The first is from BBC News communities reporter Niki Cardwell who asks “Is Luton a breeding ground for terrorists?“; “I love Luton. There, I’ve said it and I’m not ashamed. I’m a Luton girl through and through…….The sad thing is that…
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Pastor Jones: too extreme for the EDL
Following up on my last post on Luton and extremism I thought I ought to add the is some good news about the controversial US pastor Terry Jones. The one who hit the headlines earlier this year for threatening to burn the Koran. He was to attend the rally in Luton organised by the English Defence League planned for the 5 February but that invitation was withdrawn. Apparently the EDL didn’t like his views on…
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Luton and extremism
There has been another issue that has made it tempting for me to stay hidden under the duvet over the last few days. That would have been an attempt to avoid the “Luton and extremism” headlines that have been all across the media since the discovery that the suicide bomber who died in the attack in Stockholm in Sweden on Saturday had spent the last ten years living in the town. (BBC news report here.)…
