‘Spin Spin Sugar’: terror arrests & household sweeteners

In a story that smacks of the same absurdity as the Brass Eye episode about ‘cake’ (for those unaware of ‘cake’ click here to read more), The Sun newspaper is reporting that anti-terror police have confiscated ’sugar’ from the houses of those arrested in the terror raids last week.

Under the headline, “Terror plot cops find ‘bomb part’ “, The Sun reports that:

COPS searching the homes of 11 terror suspects have seized bags of sugar — a common ingredient in home-made bombs.

When is a ‘terrorist’ not a ‘terrorist’? When they’re an Irish Republican ‘dissident’

Following the attacks on two British Army soldiers and a Policeman in Northern Ireland this week, I have been intrigued by the choice of language used to describe those committing such atrocities. At no time have I heard the term ‘terrorist’ used despite the actions of the perpetrators seemingly falling into the remit of ‘terrorism’. Throughout, those involved have been referred to as ‘dissidents’.

According to the Chambers Online Dictionary, a ‘dissident’ is:

someone who disagrees publicly, especially with a government

I guess that the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) or Real Irish Republican Army (IRA) would disagree publicly with the British Government but killing three in as many days probably goes beyond a mere public disagreement.

“They seek him here, they seek him there…”: A Dedicated Follower of the BNP’s Whereabouts

Following on from my suggestion that you search the BNP members list to see whether any of your friends and family are closet members, I’m now reproducing below a heat map showing where the BNP’s members are located around the country. The map is reproduced from Ben Charlton’s ‘Spod CX’ website.

The map in its original form can be seen by clicking here.

Warning: Real People Vote for the BNP…!!!

A disaffected former member of the British National Party (BNP) is alleged to have taken revenge on the party by publishing the personal details – names, addresses, telephone numbers, occupations etc – of more than 12,000 of its supporters on the web. Unsurprisingly, this has provoked a massive response and many of those named on the list are claiming to have been threatened or put at risk because of it.

Whilst the overarchng view is that the list has been published by a former member, some BNP activists have begun to point the finger at the alleged skullduggery of certain Labour activists.

Quite irrespective of who’s to blame, the BNP’s leader Nick Griffin is trying desperately to gain some victory from the situation. As he has

vers 2.0: Is the Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) programme divisive…???

For those who have been following the thread on whether the Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) agenda is divisive and more importantly whether it’s working, here is the letter that I sent back to the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) following their inherently bland response to me a few weeks ago (read their letter here):

Dear Marc,

Thank you for your recent letter, ref P1/PD/027933/08, of which I have noted the comments.

I would like you to clarify two particular points for me.

The first relates to the sixth paragraph in your letter where you state that:

“…we have seen that violent extremism can emerge from even the most cohesive and empowered communities. It is clear that we need a specific response to this challenge.”

Could you detail what ’specific response’ including examples you have made in this respect.

The second relates to your final comment:

“As a Government we are clear that all forms of extremism should be challenged, and we are taking action on this front – including work to tackle extreme right wing groups.”