CAGE's Media Advocacy on the CTS Bill

Following Theresa May’s Counter Terrorism and Security Bill (CTS Bill) proposal at the end of November 2014, CAGE has been active in raising awareness of the implications of such a bill passing through Parliament and becoming enacted. CAGE’s critique and advocacy has been key, particularly as the Bill has been expedited through Parliament, leaving very little time for public discussion and analysis - a process crucial for draft legislation.

In December, in the aftermath of the announcement of the proposals, CAGE highlighted in BBC and in AFP articles on the subject the hastiness of the Bill and its counter-productive nature, ensuring that readers were aware of its “illiberal, disproportionate and dangerous” consequences. CAGE’s comments in AFP were then repeated around the world in other media outlets such as Yahoo News, Kuwait Times, Expressen (Sweden), Channel News Asia, and France24.

CAGE’s Cerie Bullivant was then quoted by AFP in a more in depth article on the CTS Bill and its implications in regards to the further targeting and marginalisation of Muslims. This was then translated for numerous French outlets such as L’express, Le Pays and La Rep with RT also providing a similar quote by Cerie Bullivant in their coverage of the bill.

This January, as the government was opening the draft CTS bill up to public consultation, CAGE issued a press release and an advisory document that attempted to educate public bodies on the problems inherent with the draft legislation. This advocacy was then continued in NewsWeek and MSN News, where CAGE’s PREVENT report and Cerie Bullivant were quoted extensively. The articles conveyed how detrimental PREVENT has been in co-opting education and childcare professionals into the “state-spying regime”, criminalising whole sections of the Muslim community and perpetuating assumptions and stereotypes of Muslims.

Students have also been in touch with CAGE asking for clarification on the implications of the CTS bill, with the result being that CAGE was quoted in East London Lines highlighting it as the “single most intrusive piece of legislation in the lives of communities across the UK”. 

Finally, CAGE, along with a number of groups and organisations, has launched a community campaign against the CTS Bill. Please visit the website to find out more about the far-reaching impact of the bill and how to be part of the campaign to stop it: www.stopthebill.co.uk