Following from the last post about a leaflet, that had been sent out via schools and police through social media, asking people to report concerns about other people spreading ‘conspiracy theories’ it is now a little clearer who is behind this.

Freedom of Information requests (FOIR) were sent to Greater Manchester Police and the primary school that had circulated these documents. The school had sent this out to parents on the advice and supply of the school nurse, via Virgin Care’s ‘Lancashire Healthy Young People and Families Service’.

Greater Manchester Police have yet to reply to the FOIR sent May 1st 2020, citing the current covid situation as the reason for the delay. The Home Office were also sent a FOIR, as this leaflet was primarily trying to tackle terrorism and radicalisation. They had no knowledge of it whatsoever.

So where did this communication come from?

On both leaflets it has the same ‘Let’s talk about it‘ logo, where this originated. The organisation ‘is an initiative designed to provide practical help and guidance to the public in order to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.‘ Here is the ‘Let’s talk about it’ website.

From their website it is not clear how this organisation is funded but their partners are:

NSPCC – ‘Protecting children from radicalisation – Advice for adults worried about a child.’
Votes for Schools – ’embedding SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural), British Values and Prevent in schools.’
Education Against Hate – ‘practical advice and information on protecting children from extremism and radicalisation.’
Parent Zone – ‘help families to navigate the internet safely and confidently.’
Small Steps – ‘We provide training and support to counter far-right hatred and division’
Exit UK – ‘See how it’s possible to leave the far right with our help.’
Equaliteach – ‘providing high quality, interactive training and support on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion.’
KIKIT – ‘…provides culturally sensitive help, advice, support and mentoring for anyone suffering from the effects of drugs and alcohol addiction, dependency or abuse.’
Reveal Theatre – ‘…promoting open-mindedness, tolerance and understanding’
Odd Arts – ‘Odd Arts deliver issue based creative programmes with vulnerable and excluded groups.’
Connect Futures – ‘Training and research for the prevention of extremism and exploitation.’

I wasn’t aware that we had such a great problem in schools that so many organisations are necessary to combat this threat, maybe that’s my ignorance. But to target ‘conspiracy theories’… who classifies the terms of that?

Opposing points of view could be classed as conspiracy theories, depending on who is defining the words here. There should be a debate on many topics, including who is deciding what is able to be de discussed, without being reported to the police or being deemed for attitude remodelling intervention by (possibly) any of the above groups.

Funding and funders are vague, a Google search brings up One Walsall, the top highlighted link only accessible via a login:

A little more research is to be done here at this point.