** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** Rights group Muslim Engagement & Development (MEND) have launched a new report The Great Debunk: Challenging Islamophobic Conspiracy Theories, which examines how false narratives about Muslims once limited to the far-right fringes have entered mainstream political,...
The BBC covers breaking news that the British Government has made a £2.2 million payout to Sami al-Saadi, one of two Libyans who alleged UK complicity in his rendition to Gaddafi’s Libya and subsequent torture under detention. From BBC News: “There has been no comment so far from the Foreign...
The Daily Telegraph’s chief political commentator, Peter Oborne, in his column in today’s paper scrutinises the Conservative Party’s relationship and attitude towards Israel and its implications for the Middle East peace process. Drawing on his documentary for Dispatches on the Israel Lobby,...
The BBC reports that a 21 year old male has been charged with racially aggravated assault after a pig’s head was found outside a mosque in Newbury, Berkshire. The incident occurred on October 23rd and the man is due to appear at Reading Magistrates’ Court next week. The defiling of mosque...
We set out in this submission our concerns on the exercise of Schedule 7 powers, drawing on official, academic and anecdotal evidence and media reports. It is our belief that S7 powers are used disproportionately against Muslims, a claim corroborated extensively by qualitative data and the...
The Times (£) today reports on the criticism levelled at the paper by the Deputy Children’s Commissioner, Sue Berelowitz, for “suggesting there was evidence” that sex grooming crimes are “disproportionately committed by groups of men of Pakistani origin”. Berelowitz made the comments...
The former deputy editor of the Independent, Ian Birrell, wrote an excellent article recently in the London Evening Standard on the release of data on religion in the UK from the Census 2011, arguing that the UK has ‘nothing to fear’ from its Muslim citizens. Birrell begins with a review of...
The publication of the latest tranche of Census 2011 figures on ethnicity and national diversity, international migrants and religion contains interesting data on the changed make up of England and Wales. According the data released today by the Office for National Statistics, Christians make up...
The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail have both reported on plans proposed by the Metropolitan Police to introduce new ‘contact points’ for victims to report crimes and cut back on 65 ‘front counters’ at police stations, as part of an initiative to reduce running costs. According to the Daily...
The Guardian and the Independent both reported yesterday on a draft bill published by the Labour Party in response to Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations for a new press regulator. The bill has the support of the Liberal Democrats as well as some Conservative MPs, who back statutory...
The website, EU Observer, draws attention to a report published by the Russian Foreign Ministry on the human rights situation in the EU. The report gives a summary of human rights concerns in the EU’s 27 member states noting the most pressing concerns as: a steady growth in xenophobia, racism,...
