Welcome for Government climb-down over mosque and church closures
-15/12/05
News that p
Welcome for Government climb-down over mosque and church closures
-15/12/05
News that plans allowing courts to order the closure of places of worship as part of anti-terror laws are to be dropped, has been welcomed by Christians and Muslims.
Ministers issued a consultation document in October on the proposals – first suggested by Prime Minister Tony Blair in the summer.
But the Home Office decided against the measures after police said there were better ways of controlling extremism.
Muslim groups, church groups and civil liberty groups were also opposed to the idea.
The United Reformed Church (URC) were one of the first church groups to publicly respond to the news.
Welcoming the climb-down, Church and Society Secretary, Stuart Dew, said: “The closure of a church or mosque would have undermined the opportunity for worship by believers who had not engaged in any incitement, and who may be voices for moderation. People who attend United Reformed Churches, and most Christian churches, are likely to be among those most active in working for peace and harmony within local communities, and church premises are an important resource for community-building.”
Responding to todayís news, the Bishop of Southwark agreed: “I think it is wise that the government has had second thoughts on this element of their proposals. We thought it was a disproportionate response to a problem that could better be tackled in other ways.”
“There are about 40,000 churches in Britain of which 16,000 are in the Church of England, and there has never been any suggestion of behaviour related to terrorism in any of them. There seems to be only one case in the public domain, Finsbury Park mosque, where any potential link between a place of worship and terrorist activity has been suggested. Even in that case, the problem was resolved by the management committee within the present law.”
The proposal was originally part of Mr Blair’s 12 point plan to fight terrorism in the wake of the 7 July London bombings.
Under the proposal, police would have been able to seek a court order for the temporary closure of a place of worship if extremist behaviour or terrorist activity was believed to be taking place.
A consultation paper said the new powers would only be used as “a last resort” if police could not solve problems at a place of worship with members of the community.
But in a submission to the consultation the United Reformed Church also described it as a ëdisproportionate responseí to a problem which had arisen in one mosque. It had also questioned whether the proposals were workable, since they provided for the prosecution of the controlling authorities of a place of worship which, in the case of local United Reformed Churches, would mean the entire membership.
The URC is particularly sensitive to any suggestion that freedom to worship might be curtailed, and places of worship closed, because of the history of persecution of its predecessor denominations ñ Congregationalists and Presbyterians ñ during the 17th century, when the state also sought to control what could be preached, and where it could be preached.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the government would keep the matter under close review.
“We think that, on the advice that we’ve got, there’s an element of sledgehammer to crack a nut in relation to this particular problem,” he told BBC News.
“The mainstream Muslim community has been very, very clear in the joint work that they’ve done with us that the mosque is not the place for any extremist activity and have said they’ll work in that way.
“We’ve accepted that, the police accept that, but of course we’ll keep the situation under review”.
Following the consultation period, which ended five weeks ago, the Association of Chief Police Officers warned that the proposed plan could be seen as an attack on religion.
It was also criticised by civil rights group Liberty which warned the proposal was the “worst type of response to terrorism”.
And the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said that adequate powers already existed and that the measures would have “criminalised an entire community”.
BBC correspondent Danny Shaw said it appeared that ministers had listened to concerns.
But with such strong opposition, it was unlikely the government would have been able to secure Parliament’s approval, the BBC’s correspondent added.
Welcome for Government climb-down over mosque and church closures
-15/12/05
News that plans allowing courts to order the closure of places of worship as part of anti-terror laws are to be dropped, has been welcomed by Christians and Muslims.
Ministers issued a consultation document in October on the proposals – first suggested by Prime Minister Tony Blair in the summer.
But the Home Office decided against the measures after police said there were better ways of controlling extremism.
Muslim groups, church groups and civil liberty groups were also opposed to the idea.
The United Reformed Church (URC) were one of the first church groups to publicly respond to the news.
Welcoming the climb-down, Church and Society Secretary, Stuart Dew, said: “The closure of a church or mosque would have undermined the opportunity for worship by believers who had not engaged in any incitement, and who may be voices for moderation. People who attend United Reformed Churches, and most Christian churches, are likely to be among those most active in working for peace and harmony within local communities, and church premises are an important resource for community-building.”
Responding to today’s news, the Bishop of Southwark agreed: “I think it is wise that the government has had second thoughts on this element of their proposals. We thought it was a disproportionate response to a problem that could better be tackled in other ways.”
“There are about 40,000 churches in Britain of which 16,000 are in the Church of England, and there has never been any suggestion of behaviour related to terrorism in any of them. There seems to be only one case in the public domain, Finsbury Park mosque, where any potential link between a place of worship and terrorist activity has been suggested. Even in that case, the problem was resolved by the management committee within the present law.”
The proposal was originally part of Mr Blair’s 12 point plan to fight terrorism in the wake of the 7 July London bombings.
Under the proposal, police would have been able to seek a court order for the temporary closure of a place of worship if extremist behaviour or terrorist activity was believed to be taking place.
A consultation paper said the new powers would only be used as “a last resort” if police could not solve problems at a place of worship with members of the community.
But in a submission to the consultation the United Reformed Church also described it as a ëdisproportionate response’ to a problem which had arisen in one mosque. It had also questioned whether the proposals were workable, since they provided for the prosecution of the controlling authorities of a place of worship which, in the case of local United Reformed Churches, would mean the entire membership.
The URC is particularly sensitive to any suggestion that freedom to worship might be curtailed, and places of worship closed, because of the history of persecution of its predecessor denominations – Congregationalists and Presbyterians – during the 17th century, when the state also sought to control what could be preached, and where it could be preached.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the government would keep the matter under close review.
“We think that, on the advice that we’ve got, there’s an element of sledgehammer to crack a nut in relation to this particular problem,” he told BBC News.
“The mainstream Muslim community has been very, very clear in the joint work that they’ve done with us that the mosque is not the place for any extremist activity and have said they’ll work in that way.
“We’ve accepted that, the police accept that, but of course we’ll keep the situation under review”.
Following the consultation period, which ended five weeks ago, the Association of Chief Police Officers warned that the proposed plan could be seen as an attack on religion.
It was also criticised by civil rights group Liberty which warned the proposal was the “worst type of response to terrorism”.
And the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said that adequate powers already existed and that the measures would have “criminalised an entire community”.
BBC correspondent Danny Shaw said it appeared that ministers had listened to concerns.
But with such strong opposition, it was unlikely the government would have been able to secure Parliament’s approval, the BBC’s correspondent added.