Minister announces action plan to boost social cohesion that will also give regulator powers to shut down charities
The UK government will expand powers to tackle extremism by setting up a new whistleblowing route for university staff and giving the Charity Commission powers to shut down charities, as part of a new action plan to strengthen social cohesion.
The plan, announced by the housing, communities and local government secretary, Steve Reed, will invest a further 5m in the Common Ground Resilience Fund, which was launched to support organisations and authorities tackling divisions in communities.
“We must listen to people’s concerns about growing divisions and take action to bring our communities back together,” Reed said.
As well as a new whistleblowing service, the plan will include a new Campus Cohesion Charter to strengthen respect and shared values across universities.
The strategy will also introduce an annual State of Extremism report setting out the nature and scale of the threat facing the UK and the government’s response, while the Visa Watchlist Taskforce will be strengthened to block hate preachers and extremists from entering the country.
The action plan also prioritises the importance of speaking English. Miatta Fahnbulleh, the minister for devolution, faith and communities, said: “When a mother cannot speak to her child’s teacher, join a residents’ meeting, challenge her landlord about damp walls, argue for fair pay or speak to her doctor, daily life...
CLAIM: Videos purported to show damage and missile impacts in Israel amid its war with Iran. Unverified rumours accompanied them about the purported deaths of high-profile Israelis.BACKGROUND: Litt...