Below is an edited transcript of a talk given by Arun Kundnani, author of ‘The Muslims are coming: Islamophobia, extremism and the domestic war on terror’, in January 2015, shortly after the Paris killings. The situation we find ourselves in is not entirely new. Most of what we’ve seen over the last few days is
The Great British Values Disaster – education, security and vitriolic hate
Educationalists Bill Bolloten and Robin Richardson discuss the impacts of the ‘fundamental British values’ (FBV) agenda. The time is late January 2015. The place is a university campus somewhere in England. ‘Kill Islam,’ says a piece of graffiti scrawled in big red letters on one of the university’s buildings, ‘before it kills you’. ‘How do I feel?’
IRR News 16 – 29 January 2015
Dear IRR News subscriber, Freedom of thought, expression and inquiry is under renewed threat from governments which, paradoxically, claim to be fighting to preserve of freedom of expression in Europe. This is the view of Frances Webber who considers a number of disturbing cases in France and Belgium, particularly those that affect children who find
‘Apologists for terrorism’: dissent and the limits of free expression
Freedom of thought, expression and inquiry is under renewed threat from governments which, paradoxically, claim to be fighting to preserve freedom of expression in Europe. The ongoing case of a Belgian prison teacher issued with a work ban on national security grounds, and other disturbing cases of exclusion and criminalisation that have occurred in France
Calendar of racism and resistance (16 – 29 January 2015)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum and migration 15 January: The Independent recounts the story behind the death of Pawel Koseda, a homeless Polish migrant, who was found dead impaled on the railings of a church in Kensington in October 2014. (Independent, 15
Recent news on deaths in custody
An overview of news on recent deaths in custody, upcoming inquests and a failed prosecution. Adrian McDonald: first black taser victim On 22 December 2014, 34-year-old Adrian McDonald died after being tasered by police officers in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. According to the IPCC, which investigates deaths in police custody: ‘Police attended an incident at a flat
The state of children’s rights in England
The British government is still failing to uphold UN conventions in its treatment of asylum-seeking children and child refugees, according to the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE). On 19 November 2014 – the eve of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) – CRAE published its
Campaign against ‘Immigration Street’
A national campaign has been launched against a new Channel 4 series, Immigration Street. The programme, by the makers of Benefits Street, a controversial series aired in January 2014, is based on the residents of Southampton’s Derby Road. The series is due to be screened in the run-up to the General Election, leaving residents of
Sharia Watch UK and the metamorphosis of Anne Marie Waters
In the first of an occasional series from Spinwatch, Hilary Aked examines Sharia Watch and its founder Anne Marie Waters. Spinwatch, which investigates and campaigns on PR, propaganda and lobbying in politics, is currently investigating the counterjihad movement. If we want to empower and inform the anti-racist movement to build a stronger counter-narrative challenging the increasingly
IRR News 24 December 2014 -15 January 2015
Dear IRR News subscriber, These are dark days for Europe – but, nonetheless, not without pathways into light. As France grieves its dead and more emergency measures are discussed, the IRR’s Liz Fekete analyses the events of the last week, warning that monoculturalism poses a huge obstacle to a rational approach to countering extremism. Our