MEND Statement: The Master of Spin Accuses Others of a “Propaganda Barrage”… Oh, the Irony.

In a Times article on the 12th of September, Tony Blair accused MEND, an independent and community funded initiative, and others seek to present the Government as a “hostile force” is a misrepresentation of our work to encourage civic and political participation of British Muslims and our concerns surrounding PREVENT – concerns that have also been raised by three special rapporteurs to the UN, the NEU, the NUS, the former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Rights Watch UK, the Open Society Justice Initiative, and more than 140 academics, politicians and experts in a single letter alone.

It is a fundamental right of democracy that citizens are able to critically review Government policies. For anyone to present academic and evidence-based debate as a “propaganda barrage” is disingenuous and a disservice to the tenets of democracy that Mr Blair has a moral responsibility to uphold.