The image of Alistair Carmichael looms large on the Guardian’s website this morning. This is connection with his leading the campaign to launch an inquiry into the funding of jihadi and extremist groups operating in the UK.
The report states:
Political pressure on Cameron to investigate extremist revenue streams in the UK has come from the Liberal Democrats who requested the inquiry in exchange for supporting the extension into Syria of British airstrikes against Islamic State.
I think this is referring to the last sentence of the fifth of Tim Farron’s “tests” for supporting Syrian air strikes, which says:
We…call on (the government) to conduct an investigation into foreign funding and support of extremist and terrorist groups in the UK.
The Guardian report goes on:
The Home Office’s new extremism analysis unit has been directed by Downing Street to specifically examine the scale and origin of funding of extremist groups in the UK with a remit to follow overseas funding streams. Home Office sources would not give details on the level of resources which will be assigned to the inquiry. Its findings will be sent directly to the home secretary Theresa May and Downing Street this spring.
* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
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One Comment
I think that a greater proportion of women in parliament would probably be a good thing, and it may be that the only way to do that in the short term is by women-only short lists. Regrettable, but perhaps necessary. With so few incumbent MPs of either gender, this may be the moment for women PPCs to make headway? But competence and capacity to do the very difficult job of PPC/MP remain crucial. It would help if our politics were less adversarial and more consensual?