| The London Circle | 08 Mar 2023

British Muslims amount to around 6% of the British population and have entered and enriched virtually every aspect of daily life and become normalised within modern British society.

Whilst the report on British Muslim Civil Society highlights the array of achievements and successes of British Muslims, it also points to a variety of challenges, difficulties, shortcomings and issues which need to be addressed by leaders of the community.

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Anas Altikriti discusses these topics and more related to how the future is looking for British Muslims amid a rise in Far Right and generally Islamophobic rhetoric with his guests:

| Neil Jameson: Founder of Citizens UK & presently Director of UK Welcomes Refugees

| Usaama al-Azami: Departmental Lecturer in Contemporary Islamic Studies  @oxforduniversity and Lead Researcher of the British Muslim Civil Society 2023 Report

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| The London Circle | 01 Mar 2023

While few can argue against the devastating impact Brexit has had on our state of the economy and has deepened the cost-of-living crisis, this episode attempts to address the other effects which have had a serious impact on public life, including the rise of far-right nationalism, racism, and xenophobia.

Whether it be the rhetoric that was deployed in the lead-up to the referendum in 2016, the false promises and the fabricated claims, the fact remains that the entire country is suffering the devastating effects thereof.

Oliver McTernan and Mark Ereira-Guyer, talk with Anas Altikriti about the state of the country and the steady and undeniable rise of Islamophobia in particular, and how much of that can be traced back to Brexit.  

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Anas Altikriti discusses these and various other related themes in this episode with his guests:

| Oliver McTernan: Director at Forward Thinking

| Mark Ereira-Guyer: Director at the European Network on Religion and Belief (ENORB) @ENARtube 

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| The London Circle | 22 Feb 2023

Recent news told of around 40 young refugees going missing from a hostel in Brighton. This led to questions as to how many children and minors are in the UK as unaccompanied refugees, and how did they come to find themselves in this situation. Further, how safe are they under the ward of local councils, or as proposed, under the guardianship of the Home Office? This leads to the highlighting of an area that seems to be problematic for the British Muslim community relating to the willingness or otherwise of Muslims to become foster parents to children and minors, and the role of Mosques and Islamic leaders in promoting this concept and duty. 

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Anas Altikriti discusses these and various other related themes in this episode with his guests:

| Shaqib Juneja: Head of Operations at My Family Group 

| Sheikh Suliman Ghani: Imam of Tooting Islamic Centre 

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| The London Circle | 15 Feb 2023

How did the three organisers of the historic 2 Million March; Stop the War Coalition, the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), manage to bring to the streets of London that mass wave of protesters from all walks of British life and from all backgrounds?

Since the war tragically still went ahead, could that particular event be counted as a positive, and what aspects thereof provided points of reflection and lessons for our times 20 years on?

The claimed impossibility of Muslims working with and collaborating with the Left continues to be present, whilst the fight against nuclear proliferation carries on unabated, if not with even more rigour.

Additionally, to what extent did the invasion and occupation of Iraq impact the country and its people, the region and its susceptibility to violence and conflict, and the entire world, and how close are we to seeing those who engineered this tragedy brought to international justice? 

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Anas Altikriti discusses these and various other related themes in this episode with his guests:

| Andrew Murray of @Stopthewarcoalition

| Kate Hudson of @CNDuk

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| The London Circle | 08 Feb 2023

In recent months, community clashes in Leicester saw Indian Hindus clash with Muslims in what was initially describes as mob clashes after a cricket match. However, those on the streets of Leicester speak of the Hindutva ideology being at the heart of these clashes, where Indian migrants have carried over the zeal of Hindu nationalism to their new country of residence. India’s populist government has presided over heightened tensions against Indian Muslims, and the situation in Kashmir seems to be worsening amid silence from the entire world.

Anas Altikriti speaks to a panel of experts who attempt to explain what Hindutva is, what it represents, and how it manifests and impacts others, including Muslims. The situation in Kashmir, and how this long-suffering cause can achieve its righteous goals are also discussed in depth.

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Guests:

| Ahammed Hussain – Spokesperson, Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK)

| Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur – President, World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM)

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| The London Circle | 01 Feb 2023

How did Muslims in Sweden and further afield react, and what would be the best way to respond to such incitements to hatred, whether in Sweden or other European countries where racists and Islamophobes might take a leaf out of their comrades’ books and do the same?

Anas Altikriti speaks to a panel of experts on this and various other related issues.
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Guests:

| Imam Ajmal Masroor: Prominent British Imam, commentator, author and broadcaster. @AHMasroor.

| Carl Arrindell: A Political Correspondent, Political & Public Relations Advisor and CEO of Public Interest Relations & Media Ltd. Have a rich background in Public Relations; Journalism, Public Interest Media, Parliamentary Lobbying; Campaigning and Humanitarian project development. During the early 2000’s Carl Arrindell led (as Head of Communications) the campaign (Tom Hurndall Foundation) to seek justice for UK student photojournalist Tom Hurndall who was shot in the head while on location in Rafah, Gaza in 2003. Since 2006, Arrindell has been associated with @islamchanneltv, initially as Director of International Operations and Strategic Planning, and later as Head of News and Current Affairs

| Ufuk Secjin: Turkish business and community leader. Currently head of the International Relations Committee @MuslimCouncil. Founder of @HalalBookingcom. 

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| The London Circle | 28 Jan 2023

12 years on from the 25th of January revolution in #Egypt which inspired the entire world and saw what was eventually a short but glorious time of freedom and democracy, cut short by a military coup.
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Guests:

| Prof. Paul Reynolds: Independent adviser on international relations, economics and governance. He is a member of the Lib Dem Federal International Relations Committee. Author of a forthcoming book on improving public policymaking. Reynold’s work in Egypt spans several decades, from 1974 to the 1990s working on economic & industrial restructuring. He later visited again in the summer of 2011 and 2012 working with my human rights campaigner friend Mandi Fahmy and was present amid the chaos in Tahir Square. He pushed for Liberal International's global conference to be in Cairo and Alexandria, which gave a voice to opposition representatives and political parties.

| Dr Maha Azzam: Chair, Egyptians for Democracy and Head of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council. Former Fellow at Chatham House and The Royal Institute for International Affairs, respectively. She headed the Security and Development in Muslim States programme at RUSI. 

| Bill Law: A Sony award-winning journalist and editor of the Arab Digest. Founder of The Gulf Matters, which provides analysis and journalism focusing on the Gulf states. 

 

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| The London Circle | 18 Jan 2023

Almost 800 men from around the world spent time in Guantanamo detention centre, all of whom were victims of the War on Terror declared by George W. Bush following the 9-11 attacks. Incidents of torture, physical and mental abuse and isolation from the entire world, became folklore and were retold time and again, but to seemingly no avail, as 35 inmates remain lingering in legal and judicial limbo.

Anas Altikriti, speaks with Moazzam Begg, himself an inmate of Guantanamo for several years and Andy Worthington who has been campaigning for the closure of Guantanamo and for the rights of inmates, past and present, about what the world has hopefully learned from this stain on the collective Western conscience.

The London Circle is a show that addresses issues relating to British takes on local, continental and global affairs. Anas Altikriti hosts a panel of experts every week to have an informal but detailed and deep conversation on the issue at hand.
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Guests:

| Moazzam Begg: Former Guantanamo Bay detainee, author of Enemy Combatant and outreach director for UK-based campaigning organisation @CAGEUK

| Andy Worthington: Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker. Also, photo-journalist (The State of London), and singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers). 

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