Readers may remember that back in April, counter terrorism officers arrested 12 students in the North West of England as part of Operation Pathway.  The government has now released an update about the arrests and subsequent detentions, which have caused much consternation among some British Muslims, who (in some cases justifiably) saw the arrests as another example of the increased suspicion and victimisation of Muslims in the UK.

In my last blog, I wrote about the decision to ban an al-Qaeda supporter from a London local council.  The government's Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) have now released a statement about this move.

The Muslim Safety Forum (MSF) is one of the groups reported to have influenced the Chief of the Metropolitan Police's decision to scale down police stop and seach powers. This comes two months after revelations that the founding chairman of the MSF and, according to the most recent reports, its current treasurer, Azad Ali, held extremist Islamist views and praised one of the godfathers of modern jihad, Abdullah Azzam.

Imagine this scene: One of the senior leaders of a movement the European Union has designated a "terrorist entity," and that for the last two decades has based a good part of its military strategy on attacking civilians; that has repeatedly heightened the prospect of conflict whenever there has been an increased probability of peace; and that has a founding Charter effectively advocating the elimination of a United Nations member state, is allowed to address the government of a European nation in the heart of its democratic institutions, with no strings attached.

Guest blog by Tom Parkinson, CSC research intern:

The Daily Mail today reported that following the CSC's press release on Monday documenting a meeting between Abu Qatada and convicted Egyptian extremist Yasser al-Sirri, the Home Office is to review the former's bail conditions. Al-Sirri - who was identified by the Centre - is currently not included on a list of more than 20 extremists with Qatada is banned from associating.

Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a security adviser to the Prime Minister, said: "Yasser Al-Sirri is a dangerous individual. The fact he is allowed to associate with Abu Qatada makes a mockery of Qatada's bail conditions. 'The Home Office has got to stop its tinkering and ensure that proper checks and measures are in place to protect the public from extremists. That includes adding Al-Sirri to the list of those Qatada cannot associate with."