A National Union of Students’ (NUS) campaign has become a “vehicle for extremist interests”, a report has warned. The “Students not Suspects” campaign, which has been part of NUS policy since 2015, encourages universities to rally against the Government’s flagship counter-radicalisation policy Prevent. But according to the Henry Jackson Society, a counter-extremism think tank, the […]
Continue readingTag Archives: extremism
CapX: The NUS campaign that undermines the fight against extremism
Student politics has always been a site of radical dissent. In theory, there is nothing wrong with this. It is perfectly legitimate to question the wisdom of conventional beliefs or government policy. However, a line must be drawn. In recent years, the National Union of Students (NUS) has promoted “Students Not Suspects”, a student-led campaign […]
Continue readingUWE Student Union President legitimises MEND extremists
A recent report by The Henry Jackson Society entitled ‘MEND: Islamists Masquerading As Civil Libertarians’ highlights that MEND meets the government’s definition of extremism. Several senior officials in MEND have expressed sympathy for terrorism both in the UK and overseas, peddled anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and attacked liberal Muslim groups who challenge extremism. MEND has been […]
Continue readingMitigating the Risks? Compliance with the Prevent Duty on Campus
In September 2015, universities became subject to the legal duty to have due regard for the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism mandated by the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was tasked with regulating this duty, and institutions were required to submit policies […]
Continue readingYet more racist graffiti on UK campuses
here have been further examples of fascist and racist graffiti on UK university campuses this week, as a student bar at the University of Birmingham saw graffiti targeting ethnic and sexual minorities, as well as the disabled. The Birmingham University Guild of Students released a statement condemning the appearance of the graffiti, described on the […]
Continue readingStudent Rights at Newcastle University
On Wednesday 8th March, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Elliot Miller, gave a presentation to Newcastle University’s Politics Society. The event provided a good chance for open and frank discussion on Prevent, the Government’s counter-radicalisation strategy, and there was a lot of time for an in-depth question and answer session with a broad range of opinions. […]
Continue readingNew report details student terrorism convictions
Yesterday’s publication of a new Henry Jackson Society report detailing all Islamist terrorism convictions in the UK between 1998 and 2015 provides the most comprehensive overview of the threat posed by Islamism-inspired terrorism to the UK. In its profiles of 258 individuals convicted of offences, ‘Islamist Terrorism: Analysis of Offences and Attacks in the UK […]
Continue readingFriends of al-Aqsa at the FOSIS Palestine Conference
On Saturday 4th March, Friends of al-Aqsa and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) co-hosted the annual FOSIS Palestine Conference at University College London (UCL). The conference aimed to mark 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, in which the British government promised to work towards the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, […]
Continue reading‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ events face cancellations
The recent cancellation of a number of on-campus events slated to take place as part of ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ (IAW) appears to presage a significant change in the way institutions are dealing with the issue. A week-long program raising awareness of what its supporters see as ‘settler-colonialism’ in occupied Palestine, IAW activism has seen the […]
Continue readingStudents discuss extremism at York University
On Tuesday, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Elliot Miller, was hosted by the York University Conservative Association as he gave a lecture on extremism and the Prevent Strategy at the university. Elliot examined many of the complaints from students about Prevent, seeking to debunk misunderstandings and make the case for Prevent when it comes to extremist […]
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