The government has unveiled new plans to target radicalisation within the Muslim community.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today announced that an extra 300 police jobs were being created with their mandate being to "dissuade that very small minority of people" who may be plotting acts of terrorism. Smith has also revealed that moderate Muslim clerics are to be imported from Pakistan in an attempt to combat extremism in British mosques.
The role of these 300 new officers would consist of training, indentifying extremist hotspots and those who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, as well as fostering greater links with colleges, prisons, schools and mosques. In addition to these 300 new officers, Smith said that there was funding for 400 officers whom would focus solely on stopping terrorist plots.
The proposals were welcomed by police chiefs, but treated with scepticism by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
On her plans to invite moderate Pakistani imams to tackle extremism in Muslim communities, Smith said "We need to do more to tackle those places where radicalisation is developing - in prisons, schools, higher education - so that people are getting the right messages about what it means to be a British Muslim.”
Smith’s proposals come at a time when the government is facing considerable opposition in its determination to raise the limit on how long terror suspects can be held without charge.