Pitta & Politics: Panel Discussion on the Prevent and Deradicalisation by Default Strategy

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:45 in Discussion Forums

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Where: Dialogue Society, London

The Dialogue Society will be hosting the LibDem Friends of Turkey -LDFoT (in conjunction with Islington LibDems and Dialogue Society) at a 'Pitta and Politics' event where parties will discuss a very topical issue, Britain's Counter-Terrorism Strategy, CONTEST. CONTEST's "4 Ps" bureaucratic codification, "Prevent, Pursue, Protect, Prepare" has been replicated in counter-terrorism strategies around the world. The panel will be mainly focusing on the Prevent part.

Panelist

Bridget Fox PPC is our chair of the evening. Bridget is running for the highly marginal seat Islington South.

The Dialogue Society's Director Ozcan Keles will present their recently published 'Deradicalisation by Default' paper, which sets out the 'Dialogue' approach to this subject. The Dialogue Society is based in Islington and its objectives are 'to promote intercultural dialogue, greater understanding and community cohesion in the UK'. The organisation was founded by second generation British Muslims of Turkish background.

Cllr Meral Ece OBE will talk about the local government responsibility for CONTEST. Meral is one of Nick Clegg's advisers on community relations and cohesion. She chairs the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats and is a member of the Government Equalities Task Force.

Jonathan Fryer will talk about the UK and European situation. Jonathan is an author, broadcaster and journalist, who writes for the Guardian and appears on Radio 4. He has reported from countries including Vietnam, Brussels, Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Oman, Israel and Palestine. He is also a well-respected academic who teaches at SOAS. Jonathan is number 2 on the Lib Dem London list for the Euro Elections.

Simon Hughes MP will join us for our discussions session. Simon is a London MP and a barrister who was the LibDem Home Office Spokesperson for many years. He is very proud of his links with the Turkish Community.