Just another blow to the “poverty-and-ignorance-fuel-jihad” myth, which is constantly being disproved. “Terror blunder: British universities are ‘real and serious’ terrorism threat,” Graeme Paton for the Telegraph, April 9:
British universities have long been identified as a potential breeding ground for extremists.
Ministers have already warned that the threat from campuses was “real and serious” as students are at risk of being groomed by fanatics.
Experts say as many as 48 universities have been infiltrated in the past, with claims that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have fuelled the radicalisation of many young undergraduates.
Last year, the Government re-issued guidance to universities urging academics and students to report suspicions over extremism.
They were told to identify student societies – particularly Islamic groups – at risk of falling into the hands of radical preachers and vet speakers invited onto campuses to address students.
Bill Rammell, the former Higher Education Minister said he did not want to “overstate the menace” of violent extremism, but it was a “real and serious threat”.
You know it’s bad when a UK institutionalized dhimmi representative worries about “overstating” the Islamist threat.