Salma Yaqoob (Birmingham City Council)
Dilwar Hussain (Head of the Policy Research Unit, the Islamic Foundation based in Leicester).

This event launches the Bringing it Home pamphlet by Rachel Briggs, Dr Catherine Fieschi and Hannah Lownsbrough.

It argues that we need to put communities at the heart of our approaches to counter-terrorism for four reasons. First, they offer important sources of information and intelligence. Second, communities picking up these signs are best placed to act pre-emptively to divert their young people from extremism. Third, while the state must also play a role, communities must take the lead in tackling problems which either create grievances or hinder their ability to organise, such as poverty, poor educational and employment attainment, and the paucity of effective leadership and representation. Finally, the police and security service cannot act without the consent of the communities they are there to protect. Security is delivered though consent and never through force, arguing that Muslims should tolerate inconveniences for the greater good, fails to understand this. 

The report is the culmination of a 12 month research project looking to identify effective ways of tackling home grown terrorism through the active engagement of Muslim communities. It involved research in London, Leicester, Leeds and Birmingham, over 100 interviews with Muslim community members, local police, community officials and national policy makers, and a conference at Wilton Park in March. The research has been supported by ACPO, DCLG, ESRC and AHRC

This event is by invitation only but for more information or a copy of the report please email bringingithome@demos.co.uk