This week on the Combating Jihadist Terror podcast series we are delighted to welcome Dame Sara Khan, previously the Lead Commissioner for the Commission for Countering Extremism who has now been appointed, by the Prime Minister, to a new role as the government’s Independent Advisor for Social Cohesion and Resilience to tackle extremism in our communities. In this episode Dr Richards and Dame Sara begin by discussing the  creation of the Commission for Countering Extremism, and the challenges faced when defining ‘extremism’ in the British context both for the Commission and her personally. Dame Sara then gives an impassioned defence of the Commission’s work, notably describing the kind of ‘hateful extremism’ that the Commission found to both exist in this country and to be entirely legal, with some telling examples of the types of actions and groups that fit this description. Finally, Dame Sara  describes her new role and the links between social cohesion and extremism.

The Independent Report that Dame Sara published in February 2021 at the conclusion of her work with the Commission for Countering Extremism,Operating With Impunity: Legal Review, is available here.

Dame Sara has recently opened a ‘Call for Evidence’ to seek views of the experiences of victims of extremism, and on protecting social cohesion and strengthening resilience against extremism. Find more information about this here.