Exclusive memo: Home Office denies spying on Muslims
I’ve gotten hold of an internal memo by Stephen Rimmer, the Home Office director of Prevent [Terrorism] and RICU (Office for Security and Counter-terrorism). It was sent in response to allegations made in the recent BBC Panorama programme that the Home Office was using the Prevent Violent Extremism (PVE) programmes as a front to infiltrate and spy on British Muslims.
I couldn’t copy and paste the text from the memo so you can just download it from here (PDF). Suffice to say they’re very worried by the allegations and deny them strenuously.
Given that, and the recent Guardian leak that there were plans to expand the definition of an ‘extremist’, I can see a whole range of PVE programmes going up in smoke. There’s no doubt groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al-Muhajiroun/Islam4UK will use these for their propaganda. Are there any more ways this government want to screw up counter-terrorism? Maybe they could invade Saudi Arabia.
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Filed in: Muslim,Organisations,Terrorism
“I couldn’t copy and paste the text from the memo so you can just download it from here (PDF)”
With the help of some Optical Character Recognition software:
Stephen Rimmer’s denials contradict the plans brought out by Hazel Blears (the former Home Office Minister in charge of the Prevent “strategy”), and her plans for “tension monitoring” by snooping amd intelligence gathering on and within “local communities”.
See Hazel Blears and Sergeant Flanderka – “tension monitoring” i.e. snooping on local communities
his name is really Rimmer?
‘I can see a whole range of PVE programmes going up in smoke.’
Out of interest then, are you saying that you think that these programmes are, ‘a good thing,’ or are working?
To my mind the fact that Panorama could make a programme titled, ‘muslim first – British second,’ suggests that they may be rather less than entirely sussessful? Or is the fact that that mindset exists just a total irrelevance?
a programme titled, ‘muslim first – British second,’
What does the programme title have to do with anything?
Is PVE successful? I think its too early to tell. I’ve seen/heard off some bad projects that are a waste of time, and I’ve heard of some good projects.
For some people who want to help their communities get out of a rut it’s a help, on other times its money blown on frivolous stuff. So I can’t say definitively either way.
Oh, and thanks Spyblog!
I had a ‘Red Dwarf moment’ upon reading his name…
Salaam
Less than 5% of Muslim children attend Musslim schools while 96% attend state schools with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. They are exposed to racism in all walks of life by the fellow students as well as by the chicken racist teachers. The National Curriculum does not satisfy their needs and demands. They grow up to beecome angry, frustrated and extremist.
Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school.
Muslim schools performed best overall, although they constitute only a fraction of the country’s 7000 schools. Muslim schools do well because of their Islamic ethos and a focus on traditional discipline and teaching methods. They teach children what is right and what is wrong, because young children need structural guidance. No one paid any attention to the fact that none of the alleged attackers went to Muslim schools. They had not been brought up in religious families at all. They had gone to state schools, and had fully integrated and tasted and lived the ‘British way of life’ in many ways. They had only come to religion relatively late. The attackers were used as an excuse to target and demonise Muslim schools with no valid reason. This is the main reason why non-Muslims are hell bent upon eleminating Muslim
There are hundreds of state and Church schools where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be designated a sMuslim Community schools.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk