News from 2016

Whitehall has for the first time released a confidential Cabinet Office paper outlining the "Contest" counter-terrorism strategy developed in early 2003

New guidance issued by the EIS - Scotland's biggest teaching union - pledges support for union members concerned over human rights abuses arising from the Government's Prevent strategy.

According to Glasgow City Council, nearly 5000 Glasgow teachers have been given Prevent training this year.

Responsibility for the operation of the Government's Prevent policy in Scotland has slipped into a constitutional black hole. SACC will be holding a meeting at Glasgow Science Centre on Saturday to draw attention to the issue.

MWAE (Muslim Women's Association of Edinburgh) are extremely distressed to hear of the appalling racist attack on an Edinburgh Asian youth by a group of teenagers that took place on Tuesday 13th September.

Stop the War Coalition Scotland says Now, more than ever, we need an international anti-war movement that returns to the streets and says 'not in our name' and 'never again'.

MWAE would like to thank everyone who came to the vigil on Tuesday evening. Your support is greatly appreciated at a time when Muslim communities are suffering a disturbing increase in Islamophobic attacks.

Britain has spent £44.455 million firing Hellfire in coalition operations in Iraq and Syria over the last 20 months

SACC gives a cautious welcome to the Early Day Motion tabled this week by Alistair Carmichael MP calling for Prevent to be scrapped. We remain opposed to any move to replace Prevent with alternative schemes for monitoring and manipulating Muslims.

Edinburgh College has withdrawn all references to the government's controversial Prevent strategy from training given to staff today. The decision came after the college EIS branch threatened to boycott the training

Teachers in Glasgow schools received training last week in the controversial Prevent strategy. SACC is dismayed that this training has been delivered in the face of opposition from human rights organisations and trade unions. Prevent is a snitchers' charter that turns educators into informants.

Hundreds of people marched against racism, homophobia and fascism in Leith on Saturday under the banner United Colours of Leith.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights has published it's report on counter-extremism. It says "No" to Theresa May's Counter Extremism and Safeguarding Bill, and "Maybe" to Prevent.

SACC is calling for a moratorium on the Scottish roll-out of controversial counter-terrorism training for teachers following a damning report on the programme by the charity Rights Watch UK.

Resistance to state repression and institutional racism is more important than ever in the aftermath of the EU referendum

The Leave vote was above all a rebellion against elitist politics, neo-liberal economic policies and the austerity. It's time for Leave votes to leave behind the reactionary froth peddled by the Leave campaign.

The death of Jo Cox MP was an appalling personal tragedy and our deepest sympathies go out to her family and friends. It is also a political matter.

SACC does not support calls for the murder of Jo Cox to be treated as terrorism. We campaign for the terrorism laws to be repealed and for crimes of violence to be prosecuted under the ordinary criminal law. We also campaign for the widest possible political forces to work together in the fight against fascism.

SACC statement in solidarity with everyone affected by the mass murder at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. We will resist any attempt to exploit this tragedy to promote violence, repression, surveillance and war

Scottish universities implementing Prevent are complicit in a policy that is widely thought to be damaging to democratic society, that may increase the risk of terrorism, and that may violate or stand on the brink of violating fundamental human rights. They must take a stand against Prevent.

The Queen's Speech( 18 May), promises a new attempt by the government to introduce legislation to tackle "extremism". A similar statement was included in the Queen's Speech in 2015, but draft legislation never appeared.

SACC condemns the continuing airstrikes on Aleppo by Syrian Government and/or Russian forces. The airstrikes are producing a humanitarian catastrophe. They shame all the governments represented in the International Syria Support Group and the UN Security Council.

Following the sit-in by Students Not Suspects Edinburgh University on 25 April, the students sent a message to senior staff at the university. Read it here

On 25 April, students at Edinburgh University staged a sit-in at the University’s Main Library in protest of the implementation of the Prevent strategy. Statement from the students.

Our hustings for Lothian region were held in the Augustine United Church, Edinburgh on Monday 25 April with Cat Headley, Jacquie Bell, Colin Fox, Lorna Slater, Kevin Gore, Kate MacDonald, Alex Stewart Clark and Alison Dickie. Watch the video here.

SACC's Glasgow hustings were held at the STUC on Saturday 23 April, with Pauline McNeill , Patrick Harvie, Robert Brown, Pinar Aksu, Lynn Sheridan, Anne Beetha, John Mason. Watch the video here

SACC is deeply shocked at the killing of Asad Shah in the Shawlands area of Glasgow on Thursday. We stand in solidarity with the Ahmadiyya community and we call on the communities affected to work to eradicate tensions.

The NUT annual conference today (28 March) unanimously agreed a resolution setting out its opposition to the Prevent strategy.

The Scottish Government is now proceeding rapidly with the implementation of Prevent. Despite the importance of Prevent and its potential impact on Scottish Society it has not been on the agenda for this weekend’s SNP conference.

SACC has expressed over the possible involvement of Amina MWRC in the Prevent strategy. Amina's response reinforces our suspicions.

Report on the seminar on countering extremism held by the Muslim Council of Scotland in Glasgow City Chambers on 2 March 2016.

The Prevent strategy for Scottish schools was launched at a conference held at Lourdes Secondary School, Glasgow on Wednesday 24 February

Our 7 policy demands for the Holyrood 2016 election

The Scottish Government says that it gives "anti-terrorism" funds to community groups, but it refuses to disclose which ones.

SACC has no collective view on whether Britain should stay in the EU or leave it, but we are appalled at the reactionary views being put forward by some opponents of the EU

Information leaked to SACC indicates that Scottish charity, Amina Muslim Women's Resource Centre (MWRC), has been secretly receiving funds from the Government's controversial 'Prevent' anti-terrorism programme, despite having pledged not to do so

Statement by Robina Qureshi and Eric Kempson in response to news that the European Union is drawing up plans to criminalise charities and volunteers who help refugees arriving on Greek islands

SACC has written to the Scottish Government urging disclosure of funding given to Third Sector organisations in connection with the Prevent strategy.