Memorandum from Iqbal Wahhab (PVE 05)
— PVE has got off to a good start
— Important to understand links between
urban deprivation and radicalisation
— PVE units need greater powers to achieve
their goals
— More communication needed with Muslim
communities
1. I am a restaurateur in London who undertakes
a number of non commercial activities. Among those of relevance
here are that I chair the DWP's Ethnic Minority Advisory Group
and I also sit on the board of The Prince of Wales's charity Mosaic
which focuses on British Muslims. For Mosaic I am leading a project
on Muslim prisoners. This submission is presented, however, in
a personal capacity.
2. The Government has rightly placed funds
and personnel into tackling violent extremism and it is timely
for this initiative to be reviewed. It is a hugely complicated
arena and it would have been unrealistic to get the project 100%
right from the outset.
3. From my experience with the DWP, we can
clearly see that British Muslims are amongst the most significant
economically disenfranchised communities in the UK. Muslims are
three times more likely to be unemployed than the rest of society,
two thirds of Muslim children in Tower Hamlets live in poverty.
These are undoubtedly contributing factors in the alarming statistic
that 11% of all inmates in British prisons are of declared Muslim
faith.
4. Government has been reluctant to see
a link between urban deprivation and extremism but it is only
a small step away from recognising a causal relationship between
economic inactivity and social cohesion. It is unacceptable to
point at the profile of an active terrorist as being lower middle
class and likely to be in work as a legitimatisation for not accepting
it has to bear part of the responsibility for the rise of violent
extremism. To point at Pakistan and Afghanistan cynically diverts
attention away from some closer home truths.
5. If British society and the British economy
were played out on an even field, we would certainly not be in
the position we are today. In the USA, where they have for decades
had affirmative action policies in place to minimise the ethnic
penalties we see here, American Muslims have more of a buy-in
to the country that houses them. The country that leads on the
bombing of Iraq and Afghanistan does not see its Muslim citizens
plot to bomb its major cities.
6. The work of PVE is to be applauded and
would have more effect if ministers would have the courage to
admit that for successive governments to have failed its ethnic
minority citizens and in this case its Muslim citizens, they are
partly to blame for where we are today. By admitting to and recognising
this fact, we will go a long way in strengthening PVE's work in
the future.
7. I would like to see PVE have a stronger
role to play in the field of education. I know of one university
where there is rampant recruitment of moderate Muslim students
towards radicalisation and extremism and where the local PVE unit
has been in to brief the university's leading members on the severity
of the situation only to come across fierce resistance from teaching
unions who fear that by assisting PVE work they will be conspiring
against Muslim students.
8. The issues at stake here—namely
the security of the country—have to be our primary concern.
This may be well meaning on the part of the teachers but is ultimately
misguided and dangerous. PVE units should be enabled with greater
powers to overcome this kind of resistance. Schools, colleges
and universities are currently easy prey for radical Islamists
and this needs to be stopped.
9. I am unaware of how PVE messages are
being presently communicated to British Muslim communities. My
impression is that the work to date has concentrated on institutions
and organisations. If this is correct, my recommendation for the
next phase of this work would be to extend its reach. Like many
others, I am sceptical of following the obvious routes of engaging
with mosques or the majority of Muslim organisations.
10. I cannot admit to knowing what the best
routes of communication would be and if those appropriate channels
do not currently exist, they can be created. This is how Mosaic
was formed; a group successful business people and professionals
who happened to be of Muslim origin were invited to join a programme
to mentor young British Muslims who weren't faring so well in
life as we had. The project is about a year old and is already
very successful. Part of its success is that it engaged people
who had little official connection with British Muslim organisations.
11. On the wider political and social agenda,
cohesion and integration need to be addressed within the context
of this debate. From Bradford to Brick Lane, British Muslims can
go days, weeks, months without ever talking to a single white
person. This is unhealthy for our social fabric. It is within
these pockets of isolation, where our radar is inevitably weak,
that radicalisation and extremism have a happy home. It is no
good for our claim of multi-culturalism and now increasingly,
it is no good for our safety.
September 2009
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