22 May 2016 Today the British Institute of Human Rights, together with the Muslim Council of Britain and other civil liberties, rights groups, faith & community groups, journalists, academics, unions, and practitioners, including in policing, has published a joint statement on the Counter Extremism Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech last week. Published in today's Observer (read the story here), the statment reads: We are a cross section of British society who believe in the necessity of keeping our nation safe and secure.   To defeat the scourge of terrorism we need a strategy underpinned by a soaring confidence in our values and the society we seek to build together. As such, we are gravely concerned that the proposed Counter-Extremism and Safeguarding Bill will feed the very commodity that the terrorists thrive on: fear.  We must instead put forward proposals that show those who seek to undermine us that we value our freedom more than they cherish fear...

This post was originally published on British Institute of Human Rights News .