March 22, 2017 Faith Matters

Extremists Will Not Divide London Nor Intimidate us

Today, staff in one of our projects, Tell MAMA, found themselves in Parliament when outside, people were being murdered by what seems to be, a terrorist intent on damaging the peace of our country. Hundreds of people were locked in whilst our security services worked diligently to make everyone feel secure. As the Prime Minister said, “the voices of hate and evil will not tear us apart.”

We are not going to talk about hate crimes and incidents. We will continue to assist victims of hate crimes, but today, the events show us how we need to confront, challenge, disrupt and call out extremism where we see it and where we come across it. We have always said that extremism is one of the root causes that fractures community relations and that every effort must be made to counter those who peddle such narratives, whether far right or driven by Islamic State. Yet, we all know that extremist narratives also come from other sources, those who peddle division, perpetual victim ideology and a ‘them and us’ mentality. It also comes from those who deny the rights of others.

Tomorrow, let us redouble our efforts to focus on standing together as Londoners and in re-invigorating our desire to ensure that we are all safe and secure. Extremism must be targeted with everything our State has as resources.