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Kelly urges response to extremism Kelly denies Muslims 'demonised'
(about 2 hours later)
The battle against extremism in the UK should be fought by all communities - not just Muslims - Ruth Kelly has told a meeting of local authority officials. Ruth Kelly has rejected claims that the government is "demonising" Muslims, after reports it is to ask universities to spy on student suspects.
The communities secretary said she had discussed the "threat that we face from Islamist terrorism in this country". The communities secretary said many groups understood the need to work in a new way to "face up to" the threat.
Lib Dem Andrew Stunell urged ministers not to "demonise a whole faith because of the actions of fanatics". She urged council chiefs to help battle extremism - saying it was an issue for all communities, not just Muslims.
And the Muslim Council of Britain said recent pronouncements by ministers have "marginalised" the Muslim community. But she denied reports universities would be urged to spy on individual students suspected of extremism.
Ms Kelly's meeting came as the government continues to face criticism from Islamic groups over the issue of whether Muslim women who insist on wearing veils are hindering integration. A report in the Guardian newspaper said lecturers and staff would be asked to watch Muslim students suspected of involvement in extremism - and report them to Special Branch.
Commons leader Jack Straw sparked controversy almost two weeks ago when he admitted to asking Muslim women if they would remove veils which fully cover their faces when visiting his Blackburn constituency offices. "I don't recognise the way in which that work has been portrayed," she told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme.
'Key' councils "This is not about picking on individual students or even spying on them, it's about sensible monitoring of activities to make sure individual students on campuses are protected."
Over the weekend the continuing row focused on a Muslim teaching assistant who was suspended for refusing to remove her veil in class.
Government minister Phil Woolas angered Muslim groups and fellow politicians by calling for 23-year-old Aishah Azmi to be sacked.
And last week Ms Kelly said her department would give financial support to Muslim groups that proved they were trying to root out extremism within their ranks.
Why women wear the veil Children speak out on veilsWhy women wear the veil Children speak out on veils
At Monday's meeting she urged a review of measures aimed at stopping extremists influencing students in universities and colleges. But Ms Kelly said that the guidelines were still being worked out, in discussion with universities, and it was important to "strike the right balance".
She also broadened the debate by telling representatives from 20 "key" councils and senior police officers at the meeting in London: "The new extremism we're facing is the single biggest security issue for local communities. It followed comments from University and College lecturers' union joint leader Paul Mackney, that they were concerned about being "sucked into a kind of anti-Islamic McCarthyism".
"This is not just a problem for Muslim communities. The government continues to face criticism from Islamic groups over the issue of whether Muslim women who wear full face veils are hindering integration, sparked by comments by Commons leader Jack Straw.
And at the weekend minister Phil Woolas angered Muslim groups by calling for 23-year-old Aishah Azmi - a Muslim teaching assistant suspended for refusing to remove her veil - to be sacked.
Find out about different styles of Muslim headscarfIn graphics
The head of the Muslim Council of Britain, Muhammad Abdul Bari, has written to Ms Kelly, claiming that a recent "drip feed" of ministerial statements over the issue has "stigmatised" the entire Muslim community.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What is happening, especially in the last few months, has been a barrage of demonisation of the Muslim community to such an extent that the community is now scared and the whole community feels vulnerable."
Ex-minister John Denham has also said recent pronouncements had looked "like a barrage of general criticism" against Muslims.
But Ms Kelly denied being heavy handed and said that the government valued the contribution of British Muslims to society.
"The majority [of Muslim groups] know that we are committed to working closely with them and value their contribution," she said.
HAVE YOUR SAY Wearing the veil is a personal choice Kevin, Blackpool Send us your comments
But Nick Clegg, for the Lib Dems, said the government could not "harangue" Muslims to do its bidding, while simultaneously creating resentment through its foreign policy and security legislation.
"It's as if the government is sort of reaching out with one hand, and taking with the other," he told the BBC.
Earlier Ms Kelly told a meeting of local authority officials the battle against extremism in the UK was the biggest security issue for local communities and should be fought by everyone - not just Muslims.
She told representatives from 20 councils and senior police officers at the meeting: "This is not just a problem for Muslim communities.
"The far right is still with us, still poisonous, still trying to create and exploit divisions."The far right is still with us, still poisonous, still trying to create and exploit divisions.
"Extremism is an issue for all of us. We all must play our part in responding to it.""Extremism is an issue for all of us. We all must play our part in responding to it."
She urged the councils to respond to the ways the world has changed since the 11 September attacks on the US and the 7 July bombings in London.She urged the councils to respond to the ways the world has changed since the 11 September attacks on the US and the 7 July bombings in London.
"The government has had to change and respond to that, and we appeal to local authorities to do the same."
She added later: "We have been discussing the shared challenge that we face, the scale of the threat that we face from Islamist terrorism in this country."
Extremist snooping?
Meanwhile, the Guardian newspaper claims the government is to ask university lecturers to report Muslim students who they suspect of involvement in Islamic extremism to the police.
It says the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is drawing up a series of plans to ask universities and colleges to inform on students to special branch.
But a DfES spokesman said although guidelines on "good leadership" to deal with radicalism in higher education institutions were being drawn up, the details of what they would include had not yet been finalised.
"It is pure speculation to say what is going to be included," he said.
And the prime minister's official spokesman said: "The approach in universities is to teach the positive case for pluralism rather than to spy."
Find out about different styles of Muslim headscarfIn graphics
It has emerged that the head of the Muslim Council of Britain, Muhammad Abdul Bari, has written to Ms Kelly, claiming that a recent "drip feed" of ministerial statements over the issue has "stigmatised" the entire Muslim community.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What is happening, especially in the last few months, has been a barrage of demonisation of the Muslim community to such an extent that the community is now scared and the whole community feels vulnerable.
"Ministers are not helping in this discourse within the Muslim community.
"What, simply, they are doing is trying to undermine and marginalise further Muslim community, especially those organisations which have been working so hard for community cohesion."
HAVE YOUR SAY Wearing the veil is a personal choice Kevin, Blackpool Send us your comments
Ex-minister John Denham told Today he feared a series of pronouncements from members of the government had looked "like a barrage of general criticism" against the Muslim community.
He urged a "genuine debate" that did not polarise the different sides involved because he feared otherwise Muslims as a whole could be perceived as posing "some sort of unspecified threat".
Labour Lord Ahmed, the first Muslim peer, told Today: "Unfortunately, it's so easy for everyone to jump on the bandwagon and attack the Muslim community which has become fashionable and probably a vote winner."