UK candidates debate gov’t anti-Muslim law

Militant/Ögmundur Jónsson

LONDON — Jonathan Silberman, the Communist League candidate for mayor and assembly here, speaks at a debate organized by Muslim Engagement and Development in Stamford Hill April 28.

Suyfan Ismail from MEND, next to Silberman, asked for the assembly candidates’ views on the Prevent program. This government scheme encourages individuals, and requires workers in schools and the health service, to report others they suspect of “extremist” views. The nearby Waltham Forest Council of Mosques boycotts Prevent as an anti-Muslim witch hunt.

The Green Party’s Samir Jeraj, third from right, said the Prevent program should be reviewed. Tim Allen of the Respect Party, second from right, called for it to be scrapped, while backing the cops shooting to kill as part of the government’s “counterterrorist” strategy. At right is Liberal Democrat Terry Stacy.

“Prevent targets Muslims and is aimed at turning working people into snitches, getting us to spy on one another. The Communist League opposes all government attacks on working people’s rights in the name of counterterrorism,” Silberman said. “The fight against attacks on Muslims should go hand in hand with the fight against Jew-hatred,” he added, referring to the recent suspension of prominent Labour Party officials for anti-Semitism.

— PAUL DAVIES