SHIRAZ MAHER

Tomorrow evening I’m going to be participating in a discussion about the Caldicott Inquiry which looked into the radicalisation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab at UCL. As readers will know, Abdulmutallab is the UCL graduate who attempted to detonate a bomb sewn into the lining of his underwear while travelling on a transatlantic flight last Christmas.

The report into his time at UCL represents a predictable derogation of duty, absolving university authorities of any responsibility. There are useful insights into the background of all this by my Standpoint colleagues Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens and Nick Cohen, while Student Rights offers its own characteristically forthright views here.

Tomorrow’s event will be the first time the report’s authors will have spoken about their findings in public.

Do come along and get involved.

Event details

Date: 26 October 2010
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: JZ Young Lecture Theatre (Anatomy Building)
This event is free to attend and open to all.

Guest panel

• Daniel Sandford (Chairman)
  BBC Home Affairs correspondent. Mr Sandford reported from UCL when the Abdulmutallab story first broke.
• Dame Fiona Caldicott
  Chair of the independent review into Abdulmutallab’s time at UCL. Dame Fiona was, until the summer, principal of Somerville College, Oxford.
• Muhammad Abdul Bari
  Dr Bari has just served a four-year term as Secretary-General of the Muslim Council Britain. He was also a member of the Caldicott Enquiry.
• Professor Anthony Finkelstein
  Dean of Engineering Sciences at UCL and one of UCL’s representatives on the Caldicott Enquiry.
• James Brandon
  Head of Research and Communications at the Quilliam Foundation; has contributed extensively to the print and broadcast media as a commentator on extremism.
• Shiraz Maher
  Former regional officer of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Currently a fellow of The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London.