Prime Minister David Cameron has outlined the government’s plans to beat the “poison” of Islamic extremism in Britain.
Speaking in Birmingham, Cameron said that some British-born Muslims have “little attachment” to UK society, and that this ‘failure of integration’ has resulted in hundreds of UK citizens joining the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.
He went on to et out four major issues that needed to be addressed to stop more Britons joining the group – countering their “warped” ideology, the process of radicalisation, the “drowning out” of moderate Muslim voices from the community, and the “identity crisis” faced by many young Muslim people in the UK.
Cameron described the UK as a “multi-racial, multi-faith democracy” and said that he wanted to work with communities, families, and “key influencers” to “defeat this poison”.
He said:
“Countering the extremist ideology; standing up and promoting our shared British values; taking on extremism in all its forms, both violent and non-violent; empowering those moderate and reforming voices who speak for the vast majority of Muslims that want to reclaim their religion; and addressing the identity crisis that some young people feel by bringing our communities together and extending opportunity for all.”
The government’s strategy to combat the attractiveness of IS outlined by Cameron includes:
- A new scheme allowing parents to have their own children’s passports removed if they suspect them of planning to join a radical group abroad.
- Communications watchdog Ofcom to clamp down on cable TV channels broadcasting extremist messages
- Address the common vectors of radicalisation online and in prison
- Incentives for schools to become better integrated
- Investigate allocating social housing differently to prevent segregated communities from emerging
- Set up a new engagement forum
