Fiona Mactaggart – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Prime Minister’s press release, PM’s Extremism Taskforce: tackling extremism in universities and colleges top of the agenda, dated 17 September 2015, what evidence was used to identify the six hate preachers named in that press release; and if she will publish the evidence which demonstrates that Dr Salman Butt had expressed views at a university contrary to British values.

Karen Bradley

The Home Office has information on 70 events held on university campuses in 2014 involving speakers who are considered by the Home Office to have previously expressed views contrary to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Dr Salman Butt is the chief editor of Islam21c, a publication that hosts material contrary to British values, and has himself expressed views of concern in this publication and on social media, appearing to compare homosexuality to paedophilia as a sin and supporting FGM. He has spoken alongside CAGE and used social media to support CAGE’s position on Mohammed Emwazi (‘Jihadi John’), which has been to try to justify his resort to violence.