Disband the SBCCU

That the Parliament notes with concern the establishment of the Special Branch Community Contact Unit (SBCCU) by Tayside Police in that its actions appear focussed on monitoring anti-war, Palestinian rights and Muslim groups within Dundee’s further education institutions; also notes that members of the SBCCU attended the University of Dundee Freshers’ Fair, did not identify themselves as police officers and proceeded to question students staffing the Stop the War stall about their plans for future activities and views on the situation in the Middle East; further notes with concern the SBCCU’s practice of sitting in on meetings of the Islamic Society within the University of Dundee; expresses concern that information collected by Tayside SBCCU may also be passed overseas, including to countries with poor human rights records, a particular concern as a university like Dundee attracts a large number of overseas students; believes that such actions put Muslim groups under suspicion and are extremely unhelpful in the current Islamophobic climate and that such action by the police engenders fear in students, discourages them from participating in political activities, stifles debate and undermines the very principle of academic freedom within universities and colleges; further believes that it should not be the role of Special Branch officers to monitor the political activities of student groups on university and college campuses; congratulates the representatives of the University and College Union who have joined students in publicly voicing their concerns about the unit in Dundee; calls on Tayside Police to radically rethink its strategy for community bridge-building and the role of Special Branch in it, and calls for the disbandment of the SBCCU.