Britain's new Prime Minister is former Home Secretary Theresa May, of the ruling conservative party. (The home secretary is in charge of homeland security, immigration and police). She will take office today, following the resignation of the outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron. Here are five things you need to know about her policies on Islamist extremism: She declared "the game is up" for extremists May unveiled the government's new counter-extremism policy last year, which included a much tougher measures to tackle Islamist ideology in the UK. These measures included "banning orders" for extremist groups, rules mandating that staff at job centers identify claimants they feel are susceptible to radicalization and banning known radicals from working with children. In her speech announcing the new policy she said, "We will no longer tolerate your behavior. We will expose your hateful beliefs for what they are. Where you seek to spread hate, we will disrupt you. Where you break the law, we will prosecute you. Where you seek to divide us, we will stand united. And together, we will defeat you." She deported Islamist hate preacher Abu Qatada after a 10-year legal battle Beginning in 2005, the British government had tried to deport Abu Qatada to Jordan, where he had been convicted of plotting terrorist attacks in 2000. Objections from British and European courts prevented his deportation, since it was argued that the evidence used to convict him had been obtained using torture. Theresa May negotiated a new treaty with Jordan, which stipulated that anyone deported to Jordan from the UK would receive a fair trial and would not themselves be deported, nor would the evidence used against them be obtained using torture. "This dangerous man has now been removed from our shores to face the courts in his own country," May said in a statement following his deportation. Her review of sharia councils has been branded a "whitewash" by leading human rights figures. While home secretary, May commissioned a review of sharia councils operating in the UK. Sharia councils in the UK operate under laws regulating arbitration panels and are used by some members of the Muslim community mostly for issues relating to sharia family law. THe councils also provide sharia marriages, marriage advice and divorce and custody hearings. They also are sometimes used as arbitration panels to mediate disputes within the community subject to the consent of both parties. May commissioned the review to assess claims that sharia councils in the UK routinely violate women's rights and are used by patriarchal community leaders to assert control. The review has been criticized due to the fact that two prominent imams have been appointed as advisors to the review committee, while no women from the Muslim community are represented on it. A delegation of Muslim and non-Muslim human rights activists including Gita Saghal, head of the Centre for Secular Space, Pragna Patel, director of Southall Black Sisters have signed a joint letter expressing their serious concerns about the review. She banned Islamist cleric Zakir Naik from entering the UK Controversial cleric Zakir Naik was banned from entering the UK in 2010 after a video of him making comments supporting terrorism circulated online. He was scheduled to speak at various events in the UK but the order was given to deny him entry shortly before his plane took off. In the controversial clip, Naik spoke about late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, saying, "If you ask my view, if given the truth, if he is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him." He added, "If he is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, every Muslim should be a terrorist." May gave a statement about the denial of entry saying, "I have excluded Dr. Naik from the UK. Numerous comments made by Dr. Naik are evidence to me of his unacceptable behaviour. "Coming to the UK is a privilege not a right, and I am not willing to allow those who might not be conducive to the public good to enter the UK. Exclusion powers are very serious and no decision is taken lightly or as a method of stopping open debate on issues." She passed the Counter-Terrorism and Security Services Bill Decried by civil liberties campaigners as giving the government "unnecessary and unjust blank cheque powers that have the potential to undermine long term security," the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 gave the British state sweeping new powers to tackle terrorism and extremism. The law introduced temporary exclusion orders to prevent British citizens who went to fight for the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and other terrorist groups abroad from returning to the UK, gave police greater powers to track and monitor specific electronic devices used for communications and made it a requirement for public bodies to integrate "Channel," the government's voluntary programme for people at risk of radicalization. "We are in the middle of a generational struggle against a deadly terrorist ideology. These powers are essential to keep up with the very serious and rapidly changing threats we face," May said when introducing the bill in 2014.
