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Welcome to the first issue of Dialogue, the new

monthly current affair review from Unitas

Communications, which wil l seek to providecoverage of recent news and events pertaining to

the UK Muslim community, alongside expert analysis

and commentary.

Since the start of 201 0 Unitas Communications,through the British Muslim Media Network, has

provided a daily news portal focusing on Muslim

affairs. This new online publication has been

introduced in light of the positive response to thedaily news digests and in keeping with our ethos of

delivering mainstream news specific to the Muslimcommunity. Alongside our Talking Points and Policy

Focus sections, a succession of commentators from

inside the world of politics, media and public affairswil l provide their opinion on developments over the

past month and breaking news stories.

In this edition, we bring you Jason Beattie, Deputy

Political Editor at The Daily Mirror, who takes the hot-seat in a quick-fire interview on the political strategy

employed by the 3 main UK Political Parties in therun up to next week’ s General Election. In my first

column, I want to discuss the seemingly ubiquitous

subject of the General Election campaign. With therecent historic leader's television debates, it seems

political apathy may have reached a turning point.While the media attention has been focused on this

new interest in politics and specifically in the fortunes

of the yellow party, what they have failed to noticeis a community of voters that has the potential to

make a huge difference to the electoral landscape– the Muslim community. Huge swathes of leaders

from the British Muslim community have quite

suddenly become politicised, as exemplified by thefollowing large-scale drives:

- The UK’ s largest Muslim media channel ‘ Islam

Channel’ producing 3 documentaries urging Muslim

to use their vote and running an ad campaign

urging people to register to vote.

- The UK’ s largest Muslim umbrella organisation’

‘Muslim Council of Britain’ , launches a Muslim Vote

campaign and persuades leading Muslim clerics to

endorse this drive.

- The UK's largest Muslim website ‘MPACUK’ launches

‘Operation Muslim Vote’ and targets MP’ s around

the Country who it perceives are neglecting to serve

the interests of British Muslims.

- Mosques up and down the country have launched

voter registration drives. The efforts of the Nigerian

run Old Kent Road Mosque in South London, TheBangladeshi Run East London Mosque and The

Pakistani run Jame Masjid in Birmingham are worth

noting.

British Muslims have a real chance to influence thiselection, despite representing a relatively small

proportion of the population. UK’ s two mil l ion or so

Muslims live in concentrated, primarily urban,

pockets which means they could have a significantinfluence on up to 82 marginal seats. There has also

been a record number of Muslim candidatesstanding for parliament this year with at least 8

Labour and 3 Conservative candidates in winnable

seats. This could take the total number of MuslimMP’ s’ s from 4 to at least 1 0 in the new parliament.

Although there ought to be at least UK 40 MP’ s inproportion to the 2.8 mil l ion Muslims that l ive in the

UK, this is nevertheless a step in the right direction.

For all the criticisms levied against them, the Labour

Party appears to have shown genuine enthusiasmfor working with ethnic minorities and they are stil l

the only political party with any elected Muslim MPs.

They are also the only party to have a Faith Groupsumbrella body representing faith communities within

the Labour Party. Of course, as far as the Muslimcommunity is concerned, the legacy of the Iraq war

stil l hangs over the party, as does that of an overtly

interventionist foreign policy. The Liberal Democrats'outspoken criticism of the UK’ s arms relationship with

Israel during the invasion of Gaza is an example ofhow they have managed to appeal to the Muslim

community. The Tories have yet to prove that they

have a genuine commitment to doing so.Surprisingly, none of main parties have yet visited a

mosque for that all important photo-op beside anImam.

As the campaign gathers pace, it’ s worth watching

out for Muslim PPC’ s l ike the ‘Party Animal’ RushnaraAli, running for Bethnal Green and Bow, and the

energetic Shabana Mahmood in Birmingham.

Businessman Nadhim Zahavi, Conservative PPC for

Stratford upon Avon is very well connected and the

Liberal Democrats’ Qurban Hussain has a genuinechance in Luton South against Esther Rantzen and

company.

We hope you enjoy this monthly newsletter.

HOW THE MUSLIM VOTE CAN SWING ITUnitas CEO Muddassar Ahmed looks forward to the election

INTERVIEW: JASON BEATTIEA quickfire interview with the Political Editor of The Daily Mirror

Who won the first leaders' debate?

Clearly Nick Clegg. Though there is a danger his performance isbecoming mythologised in the subsequent hype. For the

Conservatives, they should be worried David Cameron bombed so

badly. Many of my media colleagues thought Brown performed

well but Labour must be concerned that even a good

performance by the PM failed to shift opinion.

What has been the most damaging news story for each of the

parties?

The TV debates have upset the equil ibrium of the Tory campaign.The viewers appeared to punish Cameron for believing he had a

divine right to strol l into No 1 0. Nick Clegg may regret not tightening

down his policies on Trident and immigration. Gordon Brown took too long to close down the Tory

attack on National Insurance rises.

What front benchers are the strongest media performers for each of the parties?

Lord Mandelson for Labour, he's box office. Michael Gove does well for the Tories and Vince Cable for

the Lib Dems. But Cameron remains the Tories' best card, and, obviously Nick Clegg has finallyescaped from Vince Cable's shadow.

What frontbenchers would you see as having the biggest potential for dropping a clanger?

Lord Mandelson dances along a high wire whatever he does. It thril ls but he could easily sl ip. ChrisGrayling and Oliver Letwin appear to be in a safehouse with Theresa Vil l iers so of the Tories allowed to

see daylight I would stil l put my money on Ken Clarke in the gaffe stakes. The Lib Dems barely registerbeyond Nick and Vince so I cannot see anyone fall ing over unless they wheel Lembit Opik out.

Which party has the best digital PR strategy?

The Tories have been quicker to master Google ads, viral campaigns and buzz marketing, while

Labour has had fun with doctored Tory posters. But the most salient thing about this election is that

television continues to set the agenda.

Which 3 MPs have the best online presence and strategy (blogs/twitter/facebook etc)?

Tom Watson for Labour, Tory MP Nadine Dorries is constantly entertaining, for not necessarily for the

right reasons and I know of no Lib Dem's storming the virtual world.

What's been the best election ad of the campaign so far?

For all the wrong reasons, the Labour Gene Hunt poster (Don't let Cameron take you back to the 80s) .

It was a gift to the Tories and should never have been allowed off the drawing board.

TALKING POINTSA breakdown of three of the key news stories this month

THE ISSUE WHAT THE PAPERS ARE SAYING

Wikileaks, the website that has built a reputation

for exposing governmental and corporate

malpractice through publishing classified

documents, has posted a video taken from thecockpit of an Apache helicopter in Iraq in 2007.

The video shows US soldiers gunning targets who

turned out to be 1 2 innocent civil ians, including

two Reuter’ s journalists. The videos have provoked

outrage across the Middle East, particularlybecause of the language used by the American

soldiers, which allegedly includes comments such

as 'Yeah look at those dead b******s'.

Joan Smith in The Independent suggested that

this is a sobering moment to reflect on what

fighting in wars does to men. She suggests that

rather than simply defend those involved, thePentagon should take steps to ensure that the

wars in Iran and Afghanistan do not continue to

'normalise violence'. Omar Chatriwala, on the Al

Jazeera English blog, l isted other examples of

Wikileak documents that they Pentagon didn'twant the world to see: A classified film revealing

civil ian casualties under the command of US

General Petraeus, A US intell igence briefing on

how to undermine and hack WikiLeaks, releasesconcerning the Icelandic banking collapse andUS and UK's involvement in reclaiming bil l ions of

Euros of loan guarantees.

The three party leaders' debates herald a

landmark in the nation’ s political landscape. Thishas been the only time in the country's history that

television debates of this kind have taken place.

9.4 mil l ion viewers tuned in on Thursday 1 5thMarch to watch the first debate between the

three Party leaders. Over the course of thedebates the leaders have responded to questions

from the selected studio audiences and

responded to each other after every question.The debates have focussed on issues covering

domestic affairs including spending cuts, tax andpolitical reform to foreign affairs and the

economy. Most significantly the debates have

given rise to ‘Cleggmania’ and have positionedthe Liberal Democrats firmly on the political map.

The most remarkable outcome of these historicdebates has been the rise of Nick Clegg, as the

Independent claimed, 'smashing through the twoparty system'. After the first debate Channel 4

newsreader John Snow commented that 'Clegg's

engagement with the camera was by far thebest'. Most of the media coverage agreed that

all of the leaders improved in the second debatewith the Guardian declaring they had all ‘ upped

their game’ , being sl ightly more sympathetic to

Brown who gave a ‘ far more prime-ministerialperformance’ . The Telegraph pronounced the

final debate as the best of the three ‘because is

was just that, a debate’ hail ing David Cameron

as the clear winner and Brown ‘weighed down by

the baggage of 1 3 years in office.’

The Israeli government offended the Obamaadministration earlier this month by announcing

the building of 1 ,600 new residential units in EastJerusalem just after the US Vice-President Joe

Biden had announced continued US support for

Israel's security. Obama, Biden and Secretary ofState Hil lary Clinton all proceeded to publicly

rebuke Israel, including cancell ing a state dinnerwhen Netanyahu visited Washington. The Israelis

said that the housing announcement was

'procedural', the plan had been in place for threeyears and that it was unrelated to Biden's visit. As

a result of the ensuing fracas, peace talks

between Israel and Palestine were cancelled.

The Independent suggested that this issue wascreating 'the biggest crisis in relations for 35 years'

between the US and Israel'. The Guardian urgedPresident Obama not to back down, saying that

he had 'already climbed down a fair way from his

original demand for a total halt on settlementconstruction.' James Hilder in The Times suggested

that Binamin Neyanyahu had 'miscalculated theUS President’ s determination to stand his ground

this time round'. Thomas Friedman in The New York

Times suggested that the key issue was the powerstruggle in Palestine between moderate, effective

Prime Minister Salam Fayad, and the all iance of

Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.

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TALKING POINTSA breakdown of three of the key news stories this month

WHAT THE KEY PLAYERS ARE

SAYING

WHAT NEXT?

Wikileaks has set up a special site for the Apache

helicopter video, entitled 'Collateral Murder'.When accused by talkshow host Stephen Colbert

of extending the remit of the site from leaks to

'pure editorial ' as reflected by this title and the

editing done on the video, Wikileaks founder

Julian Assange responded that he wil l always 'tryand get maximum possible political impact' for

their sources. Assange called Defence Secretary

Robert Gates a 'l iar' over the latter's assertion that

the troops were in a 'combat situation'. Gates

commented that 'we take these things seriously'but launched into an attack on Wikileaks,

suggesting that they put out anything they want,

and they're never held accountable for it. There's

no before and there's no after."

Beyond the tragic incident itself, there are a

number of serious consequences stemming fromthe leak of this video. Stephanie Strom in The New

York Times suggested that The Pentagon now saw

Wikileaks as a potential threat to their operations.

The Times in London picked up on this concern, as

the activists behind the website now claim thatthey are being 'harrassed' by the security services.

The Telegraph meanwhile warned of worse to

come, as they commented on news that

Wikileaks are planning to release footage of

airstrikes that kil led 1 47 civil ians in Afghanistan lastyear. Reuters have set up a website dedicated to

their journalists kil led in the Iraq confl ict.

The key approach from Clegg was his “plague on

both your houses” l ine, pitching himself as

someone new and a fresh face in politics. His

attitude was generally upbeat and aspirationaland he closed the final debate with the words

“don’ t let anyone tell you it can’ t happen. It can.This time, you can make the difference.” Brown

was always keen to pitch himself as the man of

experience, accusing the other two leaders ofnot being “ready” for government, continually

pointing to his success in shoring up the banks in

the wake of the financial crash, and hammering

home the idea that a vote for Labour was a vote

for “progressive governance”. Cameron keptreiterating the concept of ‘broken Britain’ and

accused Brown of “fail ing the poor”.

Most national polls agreed that Clegg won the

first debate with his approach of attacking the

other two leaders for fail ing the British people.Gordon Brown trailed in third place although the

Guardian put Brown and the Tory leader neck

and neck. Both Cameron and Brown didsignificantly better in the second debate,

although by giving the Lib Dem leader somemuch needed media coverage, commentators

agree that the election has been swung on its

head and what once looked like a certainConservative victory may be edging towards a

hung parliament. The final debate was won by

the Tory leader, although both Brown and

Cameron stil l fear Clegg for taking votes from

both sides of the fence.

All the key players were reunited for a

conference held this week by AIPAC, the Israel

lobby in Washington. Secretary of State Hil lary

Clinton urged an end to the confl ict withPalestine "The status quo is unsustainable for all

sides. It promises only more violence andunrealised aspirations. Staying on this course

means continuing a confl ict that carries tragic

human cost". Binyamin Netanyahu, speaking justa few hours later on the same podium, was given

an enthusiastic response by the crowd when he

said 'Jerusalem is not a settlement, it is our

capital. ' The new President of AIPAC said

'disagreements between any two all ies happen,but how friends...react when missteps occur, that

can determine the nature of the relationship.'

The prospect of further confl ict over settlement

building was raised recently when Netanyahu

told ABC news that he wil l not accept demands

that Israel stop building in occupied EastJerusalem. However, he called for a ful l and frank

set of talks 'without preconditions'. Jeremy Bowen,writing on the BBC Middle East blog, has

predicted a tough future for the region and

suggested that ' people who have to live with theMiddle East's grim collection of smouldering

problems are finding it hard to look ahead with

anything other than foreboding. He sees the fact

that the recent crisis focuses on Jerusalem sees as

the biggest disaster, as it is 'the single mostemotive issue in the entire Middle East'. He

predicts war is in the offing.

POLICY FOCUSA breakdown of what the main parties are proposing in key policy areas,

and how those areas relate to the Muslim community.

According to the last census, the UK’ s Muslim community had an age demographic that was

proportionately younger than that of any other religious community. The UK’ s Muslim community is also

heavily concentrated in economically deprived areas. With nearly half of adult Bangladeshi’ s and 27% ofPakistani men and 40% of Pakistani women without any formal qualifications, how wil l the education

policies of the three parties bode for the emerging generation of British Muslims?

LABOUR

Labour’ s manifesto pledges one-to-one tuition for every primary school child that needs it and would

provide parents with the power to bring in new school ' leadership teams' through mergers and takeoversif they felt their school was fail ing them. Given the disproportionate concentration of Muslim children in

fail ing ‘ sink’ schools, empowering parents to influence the quality of their child’ s education is welcome,

but the pledge has been dismissed by teachers’ unions as impractical and unworkable.

Under Labour proposals, faith schools wil l continue to be able incorporate their own teachings into sex

education. Parents wil l stil l a lso have the power to hold their children back from these classes if they areunder 1 5. However, Labour's ambitious plans for compulsory sex education may be looked upon lessfavourably among more conservative groups. Labour has also been accused of undermining faith

schools by overhauling admissions rules and curtail ing the abil ity of faith schools to select children on

religious grounds. Labour would also retain Higher Education tuition fees.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

The Liberal Democrat proposals on education are premised on addressing what they see as a linkbetween poverty and poor educational achievement. This underpins the Lib Dem "Pupil Premium" policy,

a £2.5 bil l ion fund from which an extra premium is paid to schools teaching the poorest pupils; a welcome

source of support given most UK Muslim school children are situated in the most deprived areas. However,the premium takes account of existing funding that schools have received under the Labour Government

and less money would, as a result, be paid to schools in East London where the most concentratedpockets of the UK Muslim population live. The Liberal Democrats also stress greater teacher control over

running schools and advocate replacing a National Curriculum with a Minimum Curriculum Entitlement to

allow teachers more flexibil ity and for class sizes to be made smaller. They also support increasing

apprenticeship numbers and scrapping university tuition fees over six years, which they argue woulddisadvantage bright students from economically deprived backgrounds - not least from the Muslim

community. The Liberal Democrats favour scrapping faith schools entirely, a proposal that has been

criticised by many faith organisations as dismissive.

CONSERVATIVE

The Conservative Party manifesto stresses the benefit of traditional values l ike discipline in the classroom,which wil l mean giving teachers greater authority and control in running schools. They also advocate the

creation of independent schools supported by the State, provided there is sufficient parental demand.

Himself a supporter of faith schools both 'politically and personally', David Cameron’ s Conservative Party

schools policy means faith groups, charities and private companies could apply to operate the new

schools using taxpayers' money. The proposal to empower parents groups and other organisation’ s to setup schools wherever there is sufficient demand seems a welcome change for any parent that has

experienced their child being put on a school waiting list - an occurrence most l ikely in the densely

populated constituencies that British Muslim communities tend to be concentrated. And whilst the new

sense of independence may bode well for faith schools, for those for who feel social integration is

important - the example from Sweden (where the model was first used) has shown increased socialsegregation resulting. Small schools can easily be set up by pockets of l ikeminded parents and the

enforcement of strict entry criteria often ensures only the brightest children, or those of a particular

religious, cultural background are taken. The danger is that this could leave behind to even greater state

Education

POLICY FOCUSA breakdown of what the main parties are proposing in key policy areas,

and how those areas relate to the Muslim community.

Education

The last national census revealed that British Muslims have the highest rate of reported il l health amongst

religious groups. Diabetes amongst Bangladeshi men and women is six times higher than the general

population and diagnosed heart disease or severe chest pain is 1 8% amongst Pakistanis. With debateon frontl ine public sector cuts dominating policy debates this last month, here is how the three parties

say they wil l manage the national healthcare.

LABOUR

Labour proposes an increase in spending in the NHS and commitment to free delivery. They guaranteethat all hospitals become foundation trusts, as part of a de-centralisation effort to enable hospitals to

better cater for the needs of the local community. They also guarantee the right to choose a GP in your

area and extend GP practice access to evenings and weekends.

Home care is an issue of particular relevance to the UK’ s Muslim community, given the high number ofMuslim carers that provide medical and non medical assistance to older and less able family members.

Labour pledges to provide free home care for people with greatest needs from April 201 1 and a system

of universal free care after 201 5. However given 201 5 wil l be in the Parliament after next and yetanother commission would have to be set up to decide how universal free home care wil l be funded,

it’ s a proposal that is far from convincing.

CONSERVATIVE

The Conservative Party has pledged not to cut spending on the front l ine NHS and ensures all hospitals

wil l become foundation trusts. They also promise GP patient access between 8am and 8pm seven daysa week; look to scrap process targets and replace them with outcome targets; cut the cost of NHS

administration by third; and allow patients to choose any healthcare provider that meets NHS

standards.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

The Liberal Democrats promise not to cut back on the health service budget and wil l keep it free for

everyone; they wil l aim to reduce the number of health targets entirely and abolish strategic healthauthorities, putting doctors and nurses back in charge of hospitals and cutting back wasteful spending

on bureaucracy; Create democratically elected local health boards with power to prevent hospitalclosures.

Health

Schools Secretary Ed Balls MP, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesman David Laws MP, Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove MP

The Royal Berkshire Hospital

‘ sink’ schools. The Conservatives also propose a cut to the education budget, which has been looked

on unfavorably by both other Parties.

Employment

Foreign Policy

No single other area of policy has historically roused the Muslim vote as much as foreign policy So with

the UK actively engaged militarily in Muslim countries, how does each party see Britain’ s role in the worldand the UK’ s international responsibil ities?

LABOUR

Labour are committed to the UK to war in Afghanistan and aim to hand over responsibil ity for districts

and provinces to Afghan forces later this year. They have ended active UK mil itary involvement in

Iraq.Despite the accepted use of disproportionate force during the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2009, UK

arms supplies to Israel increased in that year and the legacy of the Iraq war stil l hangs over the head ofthe Party. The Labour Party stresses the importance of both the UK’ s relationship with the USA and the EU.

It also supports Turkey’ s ascension to the EU. A diplomatic resolution of Iran's nuclear ambitions is sought,

but Labour have often used the Iranian nuclear threat as a justification for replacing Trident with a like

for l ike system, and stress that Iran poses a serious security risk.

THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

The Liberal Democrats make a shift from some conventional UK foreign policy norms by arguing for adeparture from the ‘ special relationship with the USA’ in favor of greater EU collaboration and the

eventual formation of a joint EU defence force. Such a re-alignment would have a significant impact onthe UK’ s engagements in the Middle East. This came across most strongly during the 2009 Israeli invasion

of Gaza when the Liberal Democrats were critical of the EU refusing to employ its economic leverage

over Israel to end the blockade and of Brown, l ike Blair, for having made “made British foreign policyeffectively subservient to Washington.” They are also in favour of Turkey’ s ascension to the EU. The strong

opposition from the Liberal Democrats on replacing Trident with a like for l ike system seems to indicatethat they fail to see Iran as being as immediate a nuclear threat as do the other two Parties. Instead

they have spoken of pursuing diplomatic efforts and using the EU’ s trade leverage with Iran to stop it

Unemployment rates for Muslim men and women are far higher than those of any other religious

group. Recent research has revealed that the unemployment rate for Asians was 1 2.6% compared to

7.6% in white communities. People from Muslim backgrounds are severely underrepresented in themainstream workforce and Muslim women in particular are four times less l ikely to be employed.

THE CONSERVATIVES

The Conservative Party have proposed a new single back to Work Programme for everyone who is

unemployed, including those seeking incapacity benefits. The unemployed young wil l be referred tothe Work Programme after 6 months of unemployment, whilst providers wil l draw on Service

Academies to offer pre-employment training for the unemployed.

THE LABOUR PARTY

Labour have promised new plans that target those that have been out of work for a number ofmonths. They guarantee employment or training to those out of work for six months or more and a

job placement for those who have been unemployed for more than two years. They wil l put in place

incentives for those on benefits to find employment and increase the National Minimum Wage.

THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

The Liberal Democrats have focused their employment policy towards getting young people into thejob market. They offer to pay any young person completing an internship or work experience £55 a

week for three months, meaning up to 800,000 young people from all backgrounds wil l be able to

take advantage of these opportunities. The party also sets out to increase the number ofapprenticeships and places on university and vocational courses. Additionally they aim to raise the

threshold at which people start paying income tax to £1 0,000.

Employment

US, UK and Iraqi troops patrol in Iraq; Foreign Secretary David Mil iband and Mahmoud Abbas (Photo courtesy of the Foreign Office;) Foreign Secretary Mil iband with Afghan leader

developing nuclear capacity.

THE CONSERVATIVES

The Conservatives support continued military action in Afghanistan. The party is committed to

replacing Trident to maintain a UK nuclear deterrent. They are also looking to strengthen the UK’ s

relationship with the USA, especially as a Conservative led Government wil l be very unlikely tointegrate itself effectively within the EU, given its relative isolation in Europe. The Conservatives support

a two state solution for Israel and Palestine but have remained relatively uncritical of Israeli mil itary

action that has otherwise received broad international condemnation, such as use of

disproportionate force during the invasion of Gaza in 2009. The Conservative party has also promised

a 'new special relationship' with India and supports India’ s bid for a seat in the UN Security Council, ifit comes to power.

Immigration and Race Relations

With immigration as the top concern for many British voters, dividing lines need to be drawn between the

three main party policies towards the issue. The Muslim community has grown by over 500,000 between

2004-2008 according to the Office of National Statistics and fringe parties such as the BNP use facts l ikethese to scaremonger by pitching "them" against "us". The three Parties also outl ine plans for community

engagement and integration issues:

THE CONSERVATIVES

The Conservative manifesto says that immigration is too high and they promise an annual l imit onimmigration, new curbs on unskil led workers, and “transitional controls” on new European Union

members. Their annual l imit wil l not, however, extend to immigration from existing EU member countries,where poor domestic economies may stil l fuel significant future immigration to the UK. Moreover, an

annual cap of this sort could increase the human trafficking, putting thousands more at risk every year. In

terms of race and community relations, the Conservatives have focused strongly on promoting acollective British identity as a response to the perceived failure of ‘ State multiculturalism’ under the

Labour Party. Cameron has, for example, criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury’ s suggestion for theextension of some elements of Shariah law into the UK as divisive and the logical end result of state

multiculturalism. Whilst this focus on treating people as individual citizens would be welcome, many from

the Muslim community wil l no doubt be concerned about their needs as a community being dismissed.Some of the proposed changes would mean making learning English a priority for all communities, by

redirecting some of the money the Government currently spends on translation into additional Englishclasses. It would also mean tackling ‘unacceptable cultural practices’ by classifying Khat (the popular

stimulant used predominantly by the UK Somali community) , closing Polygamy loopholes, tackling forced

marriages, and ensuring religious courts act in accordance with the Arbitration Act. On counter-terrorism, the Tory Leader pledged to carry out a review of the Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE)

strategy “on the basis of what is effective,” but could not say it would be changed “in the way everyonewould like.” The Conservative Party currently “won’ t do formal things” with the Muslim Council of Britain

unless the organisation distanced itself from Daud Abdullah, its deputy secretary-general.

THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

The Liberal Democrats have rejected the annual 'cap' on immigration and instead, pledge to set up a

National Border Force with police controls and want to adopt a points-based system on a regional level.Their policies also advocate allowing asylum seekers to work; ending the detention of children in

immigration detention centres; increasing cost to business of work permits for immigrant employees to

pay for training British workers and creating an "earned route" to citizenship for migrants who have beenin the UK for 1 0 years. The Liberal Democrats also support scrapping ID cards and want a radical

overhaul of the PVE strategy, which they feel has meant UK citizens losing too much liberty in the name

of security. They instead advocate a more collaborative approach of working with communities and

‘not targeting them’ .

LABOUR

Labour wants the points-based system controlled nationally rather than regionally and want to makeEnglish tests compulsory for public sector migrant workers. They also support compulsory ID cards and

fingerprint testing for all Asylum seekers and foreign students, which is seen as excessive by the other two

parties. Treating immigrants differently to British citizens and imposing hard line regulations on them may

also stoke resentment within minority communities as well as make it more difficult for them to ful ly

integrate. Labour’ s race and Muslim community relations record has been mixed. They led the way onoutlawing religious discrimination in the work place and in service delivery in public institutions. They also

led the way on outlawing incitement to religious hatred. The ‘war on terror’ however has seen numerous

laws passed that have adversely affected Muslims and made its PVE programme highly contentious

amongst the UK’ s Muslim community. Provided they are re-elected, Labour have pledged to continue

with the PVE agenda and has recently decided to restore relations with the Muslim Council of Britainafter previously breaking them off.

MUSLIMS IN THE MEDIAA breakdown of some of the media appearances of Unitas clients and

others in the past month

Immigration and Race Relations

March 1 7 - Cllr Rania Khan - Letter to the editor - The Independent

Letter to the Editor of The Independent regarding the 'futil ity of 'enforcement action' against racistpolice officers.

March 25 - Mohammed Amin - 'My vision for the MCB' - The Guardian

Mohammed Amin published a piece on the Guardian Comment is Free blog outl ining his vision for

the Muslim Council of Britain suggesting that it should focus on health, education and participation.

March 30 - Sonia Klein - 'Rock the Vote' - Islam Channel

Sonia Klein, Labour PPC for I lford North, presented a documentary for the Islam Channel about the

importance of voting that contained interviews with the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Tory leader

David Cameron MP and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg MP.

April 1 2 - Liaquat Ahamed - 'Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World' - Pulitzer Prize

Liaquat Ahamed won the Pulitzer Prize in the category of History for his account of how four bankers

played a pivotal role in The Great Depression and eventually transforming the United States into theworld's financial leader.

April 1 2 - Anthony Shadid - International Reporting for The Washington Post - Pulitzer Prize

Anthony Shadid won the Pulitzer Prize in the category of International Reporting for his series ofarticles about Iraq, written as the US departs the country and its leaders adjust in the aftermath of

war.

April 23 - Salma Yaqoob - 'Respect candidate spearheads quiet revolution to get Muslim women

involved in politics' - The Guardian

Double page spread covering Muslim female candidates at this year's General Election 201 0. Aswell as Yaqoob, running in Birmingham, the article features Shabana Mahmood, Yasmin Qureshi,

and Rushanara Ali.

April 26 - Charles le Gai Hasan Eaton - The Times

The Times published an obituary of a remarkable life. Eaton was a widely respected Muslim

intellectual, who converted to Islam in 1 951 . As well as academia, his career spanned the fields of

acting, teaching and diplomacy at various stages of his l ife. His final work, A Bad Beginning: The

Path to Islam, was widely praised when it was published just before his death.

May 1 - Rania Khan & Lutfa Begum - 'Kith and Kin' - Emel Magazine

Both council lors in Tower Hamlets, mother and daughter Rania and Lufta talked about their shared

sense of community values and social justice and how it has contributed to their chosen career.

THE DIARYSome key dates for your diary in the next month

May

6

6

1 3

Vote Afghanistan! at the ICA

This gripping documentary from the award-winning Afghan Star team tells the story ofthe Afghan presidential election of 2009. A political thril ler of sorts, it shows events

through the eyes of the leading challengers to President Karzai and the people who

risked their l ives to make it a free and fair election.

www.ica.org.uk

Res Publica 'Red Tory' event at The Southbank Centre

Phil ip Blond, one of the most controversial political thinkers of recent times, discusses

the direction of a new progressive politics. Blond's arguments borrow from the left andthe right, and he claims a strengthening of local communities, redistribution of tax and

the restoration of the nuclear family as his model for the future.

www.respublica.org.uk/events

Dissecting Election 201 0 - A Centre Left Perspective at The Smith Institue

Ben Page (Chief Executive, Ipsos MORI) , Polly Toynbee (The Guardian) and ChairmanPaul Hackett (Director, The Smith Institute) wil l discuss the results of The General

Election.

www.smith-institute.org.uk

The Fabian Post Election Conference at the School of African and Oriental Studies

Confirmed speakers at the left leaning think tank's election summary event include

pollster Deborah Mattinson, General Secretary of the Fabian Society Sunder Katwala,

journalist and former political editor of the Observer Gaby Hinsl iff, creator of

MyDavidCameron.com and The Other Taxpayers' All iance Clifford Singer,Telegraphcolumnist Mary Riddell, Labour blogger El l ie Gellard, as well as a handful of

parliamentarians to be revealed on the 1 0th May.

www.fabians.org.uk

The Unforeseen cost of Human Civilisation

Dr Spencer Wells is a scientist, author, and documentary filmmaker, who has

dedicated much of his career to studying humankind’ s family tree and closing thegaps in our knowledge of human migration. Now he is spearheading the

Genographic Project, which aims to capture an invaluable genetic snapshot of

humanity before modern-day influences erase it forever. Dr Wells visits the RSA to trace

man's cultural inheritance from the moment ten thousand years ago, when our

species made a radical shift in its way of life: when we became farmers rather thanhunter-gatherers, setting in motion a momentous chain of events that could not have

been foreseen at the time.

www.thersa.org.uk

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THE DIARYSome key dates for your diary in the next month

© Unitas Communications Ltd 201 0.