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10 attempts by minister but still no consistent or coherent UK government definiton of extremism

From Peter Tatchell Foundation

“The government’s planned Extremism Disruption Orders (EDOs) are so vague and ill-defined that they are a potential threat to free speech and dissenting opinions. When questioned by the UK parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) on 29 June, the then counter extremism minister, Karen Bradley MP, offered ten different definitions of extremism in just over 60 minutes. The government wants to penalise extremism before it has even agreed what it is. This renders EDOs both anti-democratic and ineffectual. They are not consistent with human rights law,” said Anastasia Kyriacou, the advocacy officer of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

Watch the video  above of the government minister trying but failing ten times to offer a clear and consistent definition of extremism:

The government has belatedly agreed with demands by the Defend Free Speech campaign for a public consultation on EDOs – although a date and timetable has not yet been set.

Below is a summary of the current state of play on EDOs by Simon Calvert, Campaign Director of the Defend Free Speech campaign.

The Defend Free Speech campaign website: http://defendfreespeech.org.uk

The campaign for free speech human rights is supported by a diverse cross-section of organisations, such as the National Secular Society, Christian Institute, Peter Tatchell Foundation, Big Brother Watch, Index On Censorship, Freedom Association, English Pen, Manifesto Club and Article 19.

Prominent individual supporters include: Caroline Lucas MP, Lord Dear, Mohammed Amin, David Davis MP, Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, Prof Timothy Garton Ash, Fiona Bruce MP and Baroness Jones of Moulescoomb.

Simon Calvert, Campaign Director of the Defend Free Speech campaign, writes:

It was with considerable alarm that we watched the recent evidence session of the then counter extremism minister, Karen Bradley, before Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR).

In a little over an hour, Mrs Bradley put forward no fewer than ten possible definitions of ‘extremism’, including: “The public promotion of an ideology that can lead to greater harms” and “publicly promoting an ideology where the activity they are undertaking is not criminal and does not go beyond reasonable doubt but we know that that activity leads to a hate crime, a terrorist activity, or maybe FGM” (female genital mutilation).

We wrote to the minister to set out our fears. Here’s what we said:

The Defend Free Speech campaign, and many of the groups associated with it, are greatly concerned that the proposed 'civil orders regime' will damage both security and civil liberties. They risk distracting the authorities away from terrorism and violence and into monitoring and punishing legitimate expressions of opinion.

Finding terrorists and their enablers is like finding a needle in a haystack. Forcing the police and security services to operate at the much lower threshold of 'non-violent extremism' will massively increase the range of people and ideas under investigation, thereby making the haystack considerably bigger. Placing millions more people under suspicion is more likely to mask the activities of terrorists than to highlight them.

Your difficulty in articulating a clear, consistent definition of the kind of activity the Government aims to punish via civil orders was very concerning. The Home Office has been working on the issue for well over a year and yet the impression was given that the Government still has no clear idea how to legislate for what it wants to achieve.

Harriet Harman summed up the situation accurately when she told the Committee:

‘Still we don’t know what civil orders are being talked about, we don’t know what the sanctions are likely to be, we don’t know what the definitions are, we have no specificity about the timetable in terms of when the consultation will start, how long it will be. We know there won’t be a draft Bill, but we really are none the wiser about anything else’.

We were grateful that you confirmed that there would be a public consultation. But for the consultation to have any value, and for stakeholders to have a meaningful opportunity to influence the outcome, it must include precise statutory definitions that can then be subjected to scrutiny.

As members of the Committee pointed out, a consultation will be worthless if it does not give the actual wording with which the Government intends to resolve the tension between security and liberty. As it is, the planned consultation looks more a fishing expedition, carried out in the hope that somebody somewhere has a good idea of how this legislation could be drafted.

We concluded our letter by requesting an urgent meeting with the minister, and reassurances of a further consultation when the Home Office can tell the public how it actually plans to legislate in this incredibly sensitive and important area.

As we said quite clearly to the minister, when the matters at stake include terrorism and the fundamental civil liberties of millions, the Home Office cannot simply shrug its shoulders and say ‘we’re not sure what we’re doing’.

The groups backing Defend Free speech wrote to the Home Office back in January requesting a consultation on Extremism Disruption Orders. Having failed to respond for five months, the Government finally conceded the need for such a consultation in the Queen’s Speech in May.

Residents prepare to fight Heron House development on Wembley Hill Road

When high-rise redevelopment began around Wembley Station it was clear that it would impinge on the bordering  suburban residential areas and particularly the main thoroughfares of Empire Way, Wembley Hill Road and Bridge Road.

Local resident Zerine Tata is drawing residents' attention to a proposed development at the Heron House site at 109-115 Wembley Hill Road:

"The Wembley Residents Pressure Group Against The Large Redevelopment of Heron House"  are preparing to fight this and we really need your support to sign our petition, which will be emailed to you in due course.


zerinetata@hotmail.com

I will  send you the petition to sign, after the developers  apply for planning permission. This will be at the end of this month. (Their usual ploy to do it in high holiday season!)  We  will then only have 21 days to object, so we need to be prepared.

Zerine

THE HIGH RISE DEVELOPEMENT OF HERON HOUSE, WEMBLEY HILL ROAD, WEMBLEY

Those of us who live in Wembley can expect 11,000 high rise dwellings in the regeneration of the Stadium and High Road Areas. As this regeneration was planned many decades ago, it is a "done deal" and their progress will continue and we can only hope that it will be of benefit to all the residents of Brent.

But, there are still the  smaller high rise developments, which are intrusive and are creeping into residential streets, completely destroying our way of life.  One of those is the proposed redevelopment  of Heron House on Wembley Hill Road,  into expensive high rise flats and commercial businesses.

Wembley Hill Road and all the street off it are totally residential and the existing Heron House was built in the '60s and is not as intrusive, overbearing or dense as the new development will be. The new development is much larger and certainly not in keeping with the character of the streets on and off Wembley Hill Road, which consists of houses, bungalows, small blocks of flats and gardens.

As the Stadium and High Road regeneration  has already planned 11,000 dwellings,  any more high rises in the very near vicinity would have an negative impact on the area with loss of light, privacy and the existing outlook.

It is very unlikely that there will be enough parking space for all the vehicles from the flats and the commercial businesses.   This will be putting even more pressure on the streets around  Wembley Hill Road, where there is already a huge demand for parking spaces and it is almost impossible to find one.

If this large high development is allowed, it will also set a dangerous precedent and before long more developers will want to do the same. This will completely destroy our residential areas,  which we are all trying to hold onto, despite the looming high rises of the Stadium and High Road areas.

These same developers have already expressed an interest in purchasing St Joseph's,  the land opposite Heron house, with a view to building yet another high rise block! We cannot just sit back and do nothing. The more signatures we can get on our petition, the better our chances of stopping these high rise buildings, which are so out of character for Wembley Hill Road and the streets off it.

Due to the height and proximity of this development, it will also devalue our properties, most of which were built in the 1930's and were part of conservation areas before the law changed.

There are many brown-field sites in Brent, where this part/commercial development can be situated and these should be used before encroaching onto our streets and furthermore, what provision has been made for the infrastructure needed?

I am trying not to be too pessimistic, but  these smaller high rise dense developments,  which are causing great concern amongst residents, could happen anywhere and before you know it the whole of Brent could  become a concrete jungle!  I wish I could say with certainty that this will not happen, but the speed with which  these smaller high rises are going up, I am truly fearful.

I love where I live and have lived in the same area for almost 60 years. I know things have to change and progress, but do we have to lose our precious existing residential areas for even more high rises? Surely Brent Council should be aiming for both?

We of course appreciate that more houses are needed, so we propose and would be happy to support lower level affordable family accommodation perhaps some with small private gardens, as this is just the sort of dwelling which is in very short supply

Wembley meeting seeking justice for Anis Sardar

From Justice for Anis Sardar campaign.  Readers may be interested in this local meeting in the wake of the Chilcot Report.

Justice for Anis Sardar campaign event

Chilcot stated that the 2003 iraqi invasion was NOT the "last resort"
There was "no imminent threat" from Saddam - and the intelligence case was "not justified"

Who will be brought to account for the loss of innocent lives?

Anis Sardar is the only person in the UK to be convicted for taking part in the Iraqi insurgency, yet there was no direct link to his charge

Find out how the Iraqi invasion led to Anis Sardar to risking his life to aid the Iraqi people and now is being punished for it

Speakers
Gareth Pierce (Lawyer)
Asif Uddin (Spokesperson)
Abid Sardar (Anis's Father)

also spoken words of poetry by Talha Ahsan (twitter: @talhaahsanesq)


Date: Saturday 23rd July 2016
Time: 1.30-5pm

Venue:
Church of the Ascension
The Avenue,
Wembley Park,
Middlesex,
HA9 9QL

Refreshments will be provided
Free parking available onsite and nearby roads


www.justice4anis.com
www.facebook.com/justice4anis

Facebook event page
https://www.facebook.com/events/744357399032056/

#justice4anis

Wembley meeting seeking justice for Anis Sardar

From Justice for Anis Sardar campaign.  Readers may be interested in this local meeting in the walke of the Chilcot Report.

Justice for Anis Sardar campaign event

Chilcot stated that the 2003 iraqi invasion was NOT the "last resort"
There was "no imminent threat" from Saddam - and the intelligence case was "not justified"

Who will be brought to account for the loss of innocent lives?

Anis Sardar is the only person in the UK to be convicted for taking part in the Iraqi insurgency, yet there was no direct link to his charge

Find out how the Iraqi invasion led to Anis Sardar to risking his life to aid the Iraqi people and now is being punished for it

Speakers
Gareth Pierce (Lawyer)
Asif Uddin (Spokesperson)
Abid Sardar (Anis's Father)

also spoken words of poetry by Talha Ahsan (twitter: @talhaahsanesq)


Date: Saturday 23rd July 2016
Time: 1.30-5pm

Venue:
Church of the Ascension
The Avenue,
Wembley Park,
Middlesex,
HA9 9QL

Refreshments will be provided
Free parking available onsite and nearby roads


www.justice4anis.com
www.facebook.com/justice4anis

Facebook event page
https://www.facebook.com/events/744357399032056/

#justice4anis

Sufra Food Bank seeking an Office and Service Manager

Office & Service Manager
Salary: £20,000-£22,000 per annum (depending on experience)
Hours: 40 hours/week (in addition to regular evenings and weekends)
Annual Leave: 4 Weeks + statutory holidays
Responsible to: Director
Location: Stonebridge, London Borough of Brent

We are recruiting an Office & Service Manager to undertake the day to day administration of the charity, oversee service delivery and manage an expanding team of volunteers. The Office & Service Manager is the first point of call for all enquiries from partner organisations, stakeholders and service users. The successful candidate must therefore be able to demonstrate a high degree of professionalism and appropriate conduct when dealing with disadvantaged and vulnerable people.

This is a demanding role in a small charity, which will require an exceptionally hard-working and committed individual, with regular additional hours during evenings and weekends.

A full Job Description and Personal Specification is available here.

To apply for this role, please submit a CV, Covering Letter (no more than 2 sides) and Equal Opportunities Form by email to admin@sufra-nwlondon.org.uk.

The deadline for applications is Thursday 4 August at 5pm, with interviews on Thursday 11 August 2016.

Pokemon Go hits Brent and gets teens outs and about

It started on Friday when a pupil on a class trip with me to Fryent Country Park suddenly captured a Pokemon at the park sign on Fryent Way. An image of the sign, rather cleaner than the real one, popped up on his screen.

Then yesterday on the Brent Walk for Change I came across  half a dozen youths in the churchyard at Old St Andrew's Church in Kingsbury all staring at their iphone screens. They told me they had captured two Pokemon there.

There have been many attempts to persuade children and teens to leave the screens in their bedrooms to get out and about in the fresh air of the real world LINK but this one combining screens with walking or biking really seems to do the trick and its launch well-timed for the summer holidays.

There have been the usual scare stories from the States (children trying to access nuclear establishments to capture Pokemon) but in many ways it is not much more than a 21st century version of the i-Spy books of the 60s where you ticked off your finds.

Parents will be concerned about younger children going out on their own in pursuit of these little creatures but I am sure it can be turned into a family adventure quite easily.

Brent is rich in potential sites so look out for groups of young people in places you have never seen them before - and Brent Council, go easy on the group dispersal orders!

Greens will join Stop Trident protest tonight in Parliament Square

Green activists are organising to be at the Stop Trident demonstration tonight at 6pm, Parliament Square, London:

On the 18th of July Parliament will vote on whether or not to spend at least £110 billion on replacing Trident, Britain's nuclear weapons system.

The Green Party has long been united in the belief that we must decommission the UK’s nuclear weapons.

Please join the protest outside parliament on Monday, so MPs debating the future of Trident know the strength of the movement against nuclear weapons.