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We are a group of Labour Party members and supporters who recognise the racist and destructive intent of the PREVENT duties, as laid out under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, and who seek to oppose and repeal them through Labour Party channels, connections, and communities.
We recognise that these duties were brought in by a Labour government under Tony Blair in response to the 2005 London bombings, with the wider intent to undermine opposition to the Iraq war and British foreign policy in the Middle East through the racist portrayal of Arabs and Muslims as inherently violent and drawn to ‘extremism,’ ‘radicalisation’ and ‘terrorism.’ The PREVENT duties are intrinsically Islamophobic as they explicitly target Muslims and those of perceived Muslim backgrounds as imminent threats to security, and falsely conflate expressions of Islam with an increased tendency towards extreme ideologies and violence. We believe that the discriminatory and repressive foundations of PREVENT present a fundamental threat to our civil liberties and, as such, we call for the full repeal of the PREVENT legislation.
We recognise that British foreign policy is a root cause of the threat of violence to Britain. We further acknowledge that violence from individuals and groups on the fascist far Right pose a severe threat to the peace and stability of Britain. The PREVENT legislation does not reflect this and, thus, we conclude that its aim is not to combat ‘terrorism,’ but rather to stifle dissent through the creation of a surveillance state by blurring the line between welfare provision and national security. Furthermore, we recognise that the continued propagation of the controversial and widely criticised PREVENT duties, brought into statutory law by the Conservative government in September 2015, is used to feed into the wider government Islamophobic narrative that seeks to deflect responsibility for the harsh austerity measures through blaming Muslims, refugees, and immigrants for the social problems caused by failing neoliberalism, economic recession and ideological cuts to welfare services.
PREVENT claims to offset the risk of terrorism by challenging its apparent roots in ‘extremist’ ideology, however this ‘conveyor belt theory’ has no empirical support and, as such, has been widely discredited. We acknowledge that there is no evidence that PREVENT actually can or has prevented acts of ‘terrorism.’ As such, we maintain that the best strategy to tackle such threats is to recognise the role of British foreign and domestic policies that target British Muslims and Islamic countries in causing disillusionment and disagreement with the British state, and to work proactively at both national and grassroots level to ensure the safeguarding and social inclusion of those disillusioned and isolated by such policies.
We recognise that the role of Labour in the Iraq war is an indelible stain on our party’s history. Furthermore, the lack of sincere apology or remorse from those responsible, the damning conclusions of the Chilcot report, and Labour’s continued neo-colonialist and oppressive policies, including the lack of any formal commitment to tackle the oppressive PREVENT legislation, and indeed the vocal support for it from many prominent Labour politicians, continue to isolate and anger our BAME members and supporters. For too long, we have taken BAME votes for granted and ploughed ahead with such policies in the knowledge that BAME members sympathetic to the Labour Party will continue to vote for us. This is not good enough. We must work for these communities, as we work for all others. We must recognise the wrongdoings of Labour, apologise and work to rectify them and to support our members in the face of state sponsored racism. We therefore call on all Labour members and representatives to join us in our fight to for anti-racism and equality, to oppose and undermine this legislation at every opportunity, and to ultimately force the reppeal of the PREVENT legislation.
What is Prevent?
• ‘PREVENT’ refers to Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act of 2015 that contains a duty on specified authorities – including local authorities, government departments, and ‘education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online and health sectors’ – to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.’
• PREVENT is a key component of the Government’s 2011 Counter-Terrorism Strategy, known as CONTEST. It builds on the previous PREVENT strategy brought in by Tony Blair’s Labour Government after the London bombings in 2005. It is a dangerous form of intelligence gathering directed at individuals who are, by definition, not suspected of involvement in criminal activity.
• The PREVENT strategy has been widely criticised for its McCarthyist tendencies to cast all Muslims and those of perceived Muslim background as a suspect community, and particularly for its use of ambiguous and politically charged language – notably British ‘values,’ ‘radicalisation,’ and ‘extremism’ – that are routinely and intentionally weaponised by the state for its own political ends.
• The government can provide no legal definitions for such terms that do not contravene basic freedoms of speech and thought. As such, their definitions remain vague and open to abuse, enabling the government to control the language and debate surrounding Islamic ‘extremism,’ and thus to adapt its definition to suit its political agenda.
• Training ranges from e-learning, private or in-house trainers, to a government DVD and script based training programme known as WRAP (Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent).
• The success of PREVENT is difficult to measure as it seeks to tackle the cause of ‘terrorism’ before the act occurs. However, it is widely accepted that there is no evidence to demonstrate any link between religious or ‘extreme’ ideology and acts of terrorism.
Our Aims:
• To pass motions at our local Constituency Labour Parties to put the fight back against the PREVENT laws on the national Labour Party agenda with the ultimate aim of gaining a commitment from the Labour Party to repeal the racist PREVENT agenda in its manifesto for the next general election.
• To lobby our MPs and councils to support our cause through advocacy, protests, policy motions, and public statements of support. MPs such as Jeremy Corbyn and Andy Burnham have already indicated their adversity to PREVENT, we demand a full and public commitment from all Labour MPs to oppose, undermine, and repeal these laws entirely.
• To work with Labour Party members, Trades Unions, and local communities through meetings, conferences, workshops, lobbying, trainings, and protests to demand full transparency and accountability in the implementation of the PREVENT policy in the different local institutions and sectors, and to combat the implementation of PREVENT through disengagement and boycott of the duties.
Chris Williams Have you thought about learning about Prevent? How it doesn't use the conveyor belt theory? How it's a safeguarding process, designed to protect people who are vulnerable to being radicalised because (in many cases) they have mental illness or learning difficulties? How it works with this vulnerable to ALL forms of radicalisation including far-right (by far the majority in some parts of the country)? Or that hundreds of vulnerable people have been protected from travelling to join ISIS in Syria - and therefore saving lives?
Let me know if you need any info
A person on their partner or their dependant children are entitled to Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, War Disablement Pension, War Widow(ers) Pension, Guaranteed Income Payment, Disabled Earnings Disregard, Disability Premium, Enhanced Disability Premium or the Council Tax Disabled person reductionWhen the Brent scheme was consulted on in 2013 Zacchaeus 2000 put in a powerful submission arguing for a 100% reduction for the most vulnerable. LINK
As Camden Green Party has argued, for several years, Camden Council is considering cutting council tax for the borough’s poorest people.These are the options offered by Camden Council in its consultation:
Since 2013 the council has removed the previous 100 per cent exemption for people on benefits – including disabled people and families with low incomes and children.
It now charges people with the lowest incomes at least 8.5 per cent of the normal rate, something it’s very hard to pay when you have no way of making the money required.
I have spoken out about this, called for the exemption to be 100 per cent, and have regularly criticised the council charging additional legal costs for enforcement against people who fall behind.
The fact is that this is revenue from people who would pay if they could, but simply don’t have the income.
They are more than likely to be subject to benefit sanctions and the bedroom tax already, and it has been inhumane for the past three years to be driving our poorest people into impossible debts.
I urge all Camden residents to respond to this consultation and say you are in favour of the 100 per cent exemption being restored.
This Branch/CLP notes that Jackie Walker has been suspended from Labour Party membership following remarks she made at a Party training session at conference.See more on Jackie Walker HERE
We also note; The Chakrabati report advised against specific training sessions in anti-racism;
The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) was given the task of running the training session, despite it being known that its views are contested by many Jewish members of the LP;
That contrary to Data Protection – without any notice to participants – the training session was secretly filmed by a JLM member and released to the media.
That, in the view of this Branch/CLP none of the remarks made by Jackie Walker at the training session constituted anti-Semitism;
That Jackie Walker is a Black Jewish anti-racist campaigner.
That Jackie Walker’s suspension by the Party is contrary to the recommendations in the Chakrabati report and the requirements of natural justice.
We therefore call on the Party to reinstate Jackie Walker to full membership of the Party
