From: tsm@fastmail.ca   
      
   Julian  wrote:   
   > Britain is to get a new ‘anti-Muslim hostility tsar’ under plans to be   
   > outlined by the government on Monday, which will also include a new   
   > definition of Islamophobia.   
   >   
   > The Spectator has been leaked a draft copy of Protecting What Matters, a   
   > document outlining Labour’s new cohesion strategy which is to be   
   > unveiled in a cross government push next week. The 47-page paper   
   > features a crackdown on extremism and names Islamists as the biggest   
   > threat to community cohesion. It also outlines fresh demands that new   
   > arrivals in Britain seek to integrate and speak good English, described   
   > as a ‘fundamental basis for participating in society and an expectation   
   > of those who wish to call the UK home’. It states: ‘Those who come here   
   > must make a genuine effort to integrate into and engage with our shared   
   > way of life.’ The last census found that over a million people could not   
   > speak English well or at all.   
   >   
   > The report states clearly that Islamists are responsible for   
   > three-quarters of the police’s counter-terror workload and 94 per cent   
   > of all terrorist deaths in the last 25 years. The plan also rejects   
   > calls, predominantly from British Muslims, for blasphemy laws in the UK.   
   >   
   > Following the case of the religious studies teacher at Batley Grammar   
   > school, who was forced into hiding after showing caricatures of the   
   > Prophet Mohammed, the document promises to ‘stand against those who try   
   > to intimidate, threaten and harass others because they are offended by   
   > so-called “blasphemy.” We do not recognise blasphemy law in the UK.’   
   >   
   > Further powers will be established to close extremist charities and   
   > suspend trustees with ‘unspent hate crime convictions’, to ‘strengthen   
   > monitoring’ of non-violent extremism in universities and to exclude hate   
   > preachers from the UK. As part of this, there will be rules to ensure   
   > that ‘public bodies do not confer legitimacy, funding or influence on   
   > extremist groups’.   
   >   
   > But the plans will also raise alarm bells on free speech by outlining   
   > new rules to tackle ‘divisive content’ and ‘ensure trusted news sources   
   > are prominent’. Critics fear these measures will be used to silence   
   > critics of Islamists or even TV channels like GB News which some Labour   
   > people view as too right-wing.   
   >   
   > The creation of a ‘special representative on anti-Muslim hostility’ is   
   > likely to give a prominent platform to an activist voice. Their job will   
   > be to ‘champion efforts across the UK to tackle hostility and hatred   
   > directed at Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim’.   
   >   
   > Alongside that is a new definition of anti-Muslim hatred, which has been   
   > watered down to avoid defining Muslims as a race, but which will still   
   > condemn ‘the prejudicial stereotyping of Muslims, as part of a   
   > collective group with set characteristics, to stir up hatred against   
   > them, irrespective of their actual opinions, beliefs or actions as   
   > individuals’. Critics think this will create a blasphemy law by the back   
   > door.   
   >   
   > Reading the paper highlights the difficult balancing act ministers are   
   > attempting by hailing the way some marchers and campaigners have   
   > embraced displaying the union flag or the English cross of St George   
   > before, a few sentences later, condemning right wing groups for using   
   > them as ‘tools of hate’ in their demonstrations, a ‘misuse of national   
   > symbols to exclude or intimidate’.   
   >   
   > The paper paints a picture of a country where traditional cohesion in   
   > communities has broken down by immigration and the use of social media,   
   > which enables people to cluster with like-minded people online rather   
   > than the people they live near. Britain’s ‘historic social cohesion that   
   > has kept us united in the face of adversity’ is now ‘under threat’, it   
   says.   
   >   
   > And the government admits the role mass migration has played in this.   
   > ‘For many living in the UK, the changes brought about by mass migration   
   > have been too much, too quickly, leaving people feeling as thought they   
   > are losing their local and national identity.’ Calling integration ‘a   
   > two way street’, it says calling for ‘respect for different cultures’   
   > and that ‘newcomers have a responsibility to engage with and embrace   
   > what it means to be British’.   
   >   
   > The strategy will also seek to protect those who speak out, though it is   
   > unclear precisely how this will combat cancel culture. ‘Many people feel   
   > they cannot air perfectly legitimate concerns about the change they are   
   > seeing in their local communities. There must be space for honest   
   > discussion without assuming bad intentions or policing language.’   
   >   
   > However, it also states that everyone must ‘embrace’ LGBT rights,   
   > opening the door to censure of those whose religious views are hostile   
   > to homosexuality and those who do not embrace trans rights. Ministers   
   > will also float the idea of religious education in the national   
   > curriculum and suggests the government should ‘promote’ religious   
   > education councils.   
   >   
   > The paper also goes further than the government has done before to   
   > acknowledge that anti-Jewish hatred is a growing problem in the UK.   
   > ‘Antisemitism is being normalised in many corners of society – from our   
   > schools and universities to workplaces and the NHS,’ it says.   
   >   
   > Despite the scale of the problem, the cohesion strategy comes with   
   > little new money. Ministers will announce plans for £800m over ten years   
   > for 40 areas where ‘social cohesion is under pressure,’ plus £750m over   
   > four years for youth, sport, and community infrastructure and a £5.5m   
   > fund to ‘restore local news where it has disappeared’.   
   >   
   > A source close to Steve Reed, the secretary of state for housing,   
   > communities and local government, whose department helped coordinate the   
   > strategy, declined to comment on the leaked paper, but suggested it was   
   > not the final draft. The document, as published, will include a foreword   
   > by the Prime Minister.   
   >   
   >   
   > Tim Shipman   
   >   
      
   Progress   
      
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