May Pledges Body to Fight Extremism and Promote British Values

EghtesadOnline: Prime Minister Theresa May said her government would set up a commission to combat non-violent extremism and promote "pluralistic" British values and women’s rights, as the fight against terrorism becomes a focus of the election campaign.

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28 May 2017

The proposed Commission for Countering Extremism, introduced in the Conservative manifesto earlier this month, would have legal status and advise the government on what laws or penalties are needed, according to a statement released by her office.

“Our enjoyment of Britain’s diversity must not prevent us from confronting the menace of extremism, even if that is sometimes embarrassing or difficult to do," May said in a statement. “Enough is enough. We need to be stronger and more resolute in standing up to these people."

With less than two weeks to go before the election, and after a three-day pause following the Manchester attack that claimed 22 lives, terrorism and its prevention have become the focus of the campaigns. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused May of squeezing police budgets, while the Conservatives have lambasted his argument that U.K. intervention in foreign wars had made it more of a target for terrorists, Bloomberg reported.