terrorism
Why is it taking so long to appoint a new Intelligence and Security Committee?
For the past five months the Intelligence and Security Committee has been in abeyance. Yet its job of scrutinising the work of the security agencies is even more vital at a time when Britain is regularly attacked by terrorists. Andrew Defty (University of Lincoln) asks what is delaying the appointment of a new committee, and […]
How evangelical religion contributed to peace in Northern Ireland
ECONI – an evangelical Protestant organisation – played a key role in establishing peace in Northern Ireland. Gladys Ganiel explains how its effectiveness rests in part on its credibility: ECONI’s evangelical identity provided it with a legitimacy that some ecumenical peace-building organisations lacked. Similar PostsThe DUP’s extremist links make it unfit to join a Conservative […]
The Prevent duty is two years old. What’s really going on in schools and colleges?
The Prevent duty came into force two years ago. Schools and colleges now have to identify students they consider vulnerable to radicalisation and to promote ‘fundamental British values’ in the curriculum. Has this had – as some fear – a chilling effect on free speech? Joel Busher, Tufyal Choudhury and Paul Thomas found staff have tried to […]
The DUP’s extremist links make it unfit to join a Conservative alliance
Theresa May’s plans to broker a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party not only endanger the 1998 Belfast Agreement, writes James Hughes. They are likely to sour relations with the Republic of Ireland – just as sensitive negotiations over the border begin – and conveniently overlook the DUP’s links to violent extremism. Arlene Foster at a Remembrance […]
Why Prevent has proved a blunt instrument in the fight against terrorism
The Manchester bombing was carried out by a young Briton from the Libyan community. Tahir Abbas asks what this means for the government’s Prevent strategy, which is supposed to stop the radicalisation that can lead to terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, he argues, the causes of radicalisation often lie in wider geopolitical issues and the mental health of young people […]
The Law Commission’s dangerous proposals would turn whistleblowers and journalists into ‘spies’
Suppose a journalist received information about the secret services from a whistleblower, but decided not to publish it – perhaps even because they thought it might damage national security? Under the Law Commission’s proposals to replace the Official Secrets Acts with a single Espionage Act, both the journalist and whistleblower could be jailed. And if they […]
Book review | Age of Anger: A History of the Present, by Pankaj Mishra
How can we explain the apparent rise in hatred in societies around the world? In Age of Anger: A History of the Present, Pankaj Mishra offers a take on our current predicament by tracing increased disaffection, disappointment and disillusionment back through to the eighteenth century. Packed with references drawn from various disciplines and eras, this is […]
What happens when a violent separatist group moderates? The case of Sinn Féin and the IRA
What does it mean for a radical or separatist group to moderate? Does it change its values and goals in the process, or only the ways it communicates them? Looking at Irish republicans, Matthew Whiting explains how Sinn Féin and the IRA came to change their behaviour but not necessarily their goals – while also emphasising […]
How democratically accountable are the UK’s security and intelligence services?
As part of the 2017 Audit of UK Democracy, Sean Kippin and the DA team assess the ways in which the UK’s four main security services are scrutinised, to ensure that they are operating legally and in the public interest. For matters that must be kept secret, ‘compromise’ forms of scrutiny have now been developed in Parliament. […]
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