The advocacy group Cage has said it is seeking legal advice on whether David Cameron could be guilty of defamation for labelling it an “extremist” organisation during a speech on counter-terrorism.
The prime minister made the comments in Birmingham earlier this week when he set out the government’s strategy for tackling extremism over the next five years. Cameron said extremist ideology was the “struggle of our generation” and also pointed to the National Union of Students’ (NUS) alleged links to Cage.
He said: “I want to say something to the National Union of Students. When you choose to ally yourselves with an organisation like Cage, which called Jihadi John a ‘beautiful young man’ and told people to ‘support the jihad’ in Iraq and Afghanistan, it really does, in my opinion, shame your organisation and your noble history of campaigning for justice.”
Cage said in a statement that the allegations were “simply false” and that it had never supported terrorism.
Dr Adnan Siddiqui, a Cage director, said the “concerted efforts to demonise Cage are counterproductive”, adding that it fit into the broader counter-terrorism strategy that is “founded on a combative, securitised approach that will increase the chance of politically motivated violence, rather than counter it”.
“Cage is taking steps to challenge this strategy, as maligning us will damage efforts made by various sections of society to search for solutions to issues that affect all of society,” Dr Siddiqui said.
The group is not the problem, he said, adding, “even though our call for dialogue and conciliation may not be welcome by the government”.
As a result of sustained & coordinated attacks, CAGE is taking various legal steps to correct misleading information about its role & work.
— CAGE (@UK_CAGE) July 21, 2015
The organisation confirmed that it had also complained formally to the United Nations over what it called “sustained attacks” on its ability to do its work, which involves campaigning for the rights of people affected by counter-terror policy.
Cage, which is not a charity, also said that its application for judicial review, made last month, would be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice on Thursday. The group had applied last month for a review of the actions of the Charity Commission in obtaining an undertaking from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) never to fund the group again.
Permission for Cage to apply for judicial review was sought from the high court in London last month after the JRCT said it had been subject to “intense regulatory pressure” to agree not to fund Cage again.
At the hearing, the judge will hear arguments for and against granting the group permission to apply for a review.
In response to Cameron’s allegations the NUS said in a statement it “wants to make it very clear that, as previously and categorically stated, we will not work with Cage in any capacity.”
“We have written to the home secretary in order to specifically clarify this situation,” the student organisation said, adding that it then received a letter from the Home Office acknowledging it has no relationship with Cage, formal or informal.
Student representatives within the organisation, however, appear to differ on their views on the relationship with Cage.
Malia Bouattia, the NUS black students officer, wrote in an article for Vice that Cameron had “singled out my organisation, the National Union of Students for ‘shame’ because our members voted to work with Cage – an Islamic NGO that works to oppose the ‘War on Terror’, directed by former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg.
“This is instead of engaging with the long, long list of grievances held by people, including Muslim people, in the UK regarding the government’s domestic and foreign policy,” she said.
She claimed that under the guise of counter-terrorism, the UK is facing the greatest threat to civil liberties in a generation.
