Warsi rounds on ‘illiteracy’ of counter-terror policies

BARONESS Warsi, a former Conservative Party chairwoman, has strongly criticised the Government’s counter-extremism policy as grounded in religious illiteracy, writes Liz Dodd.

Warsi, who was Minister for Faith and Communities until her resignation in 2014, said that the present Government lacked the diversity of experience necessary to handle properly Islamic extremism. The former Cabinet minister was delivering her inaugural lecture on 10 December at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, south-west London, where she has been appointed visiting professor.

She criticised in particular a new policy that could see the schools inspectorate Ofsted being given the power to inspect all out-of-school education settings – including Sunday schools and Bible study groups – for evidence of radicalisation.

Under the proposals published by the Department for Education, any institution providing “tuition, training or instruction” to under-19s for more than six hours a week would be eligible for inspection.

Such a policy, she argued, would not have been proposed under previous governments.

“I’m not sure there are that many dissenting voices in the Cabinet [now],” she said.

She also criticised the Government’s decision to consult only with a narrow range of Muslim groups. “The Government’s answer has been to bring in a bunch of people who are not liked or known in the Muslim community,” she said. “It breaks my heart that it is a Conservative Government that is doing this.”

She urged the Islamic community to learn lessons about integration from the Catholic community.