MECO ANNUAL CONFERENCE - 2005

Keynote speaker: COMMISSIONER SIR IAN BLAIR QPM MA

Ian Blair, 52, joined the Metropolitan Police in 1974 under the graduate entry scheme. His first posting was as a Police Constable in Soho. He was educated at Wrekin College, Shropshire, Harvard High School, Los Angeles and Christ Church, Oxford University where he gained a Second Class Honours Degree in English Language and Literature. His promotion through police ranks was rapid. After serving as Inspector in Central London, he took charge of the CID at Kentish Town in North London where, as well as conducting a number of major enquiries, he was responsible for the identification of those killed at the Kings Cross disaster. In 1985, he published the book Investigating Rape: A New Approach for Police, which had a major impact on the way in which the police investigate offences of serious sexual assault.

In 1988, as a Superintendent, he managed the Metropolitan Police Crime Investigation Project which redesigned the purpose and structure of local CID offices throughout London. In 1989, he was appointed to Kensington Division.

In 1991, he was promoted to Chief Superintendent and appointed Staff Officer to Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, based at the Home Office.

On his return to the Metropolitan Police in 1993, he was appointed the officer in charge of Operation Gallery, at that time the largest police corruption enquiry in London for a decade.

In 1994, he was appointed Assistant Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police with responsibility for territorial policing and took charge of policing the Newbury by-pass protests.

In 1996, he changed portfolio to take responsibility for Personnel matters. In 1997, Ian Blair became designated deputy to the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police. This posting was short-lived because he became Chief Constable of Surrey in January 1998.

In February 2000, he returned to the Metropolitan Police as the Deputy Commissioner. As well as supporting the Commissioner in the overall direction of the MPS, he had lead responsibility for change management, for anti-corruption work, for diversity and for information management.

In February 2005 he was appointed Metropolitan Police Commissioner. He is a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and an honorary member of the Senior Common Room of Christ Church. In 1998, he was made a Visiting Fellow of the International Centre for Advanced Studies, New York University. His work there culminated in his speech in July 1998 to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) which won widespread publicity concerning the relationship between public policing and the private security sector.

Since his return to the Metropolitan Police Service, he has been one of the foremost in-service advocates of police reform and was instrumental in the development of Police Community Support Officers, who are now to be seen supporting regular police patrol in London and elsewhere. He is also one of the main spokesmen for the police service about criminal justice reform.

In 1999, he was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service and he was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours, 2003, for his services to policing.

Dr Tahir Abbas

Dr Tahir Abbas BSc (Econ) MSocSc, PhD is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Culture, University of Birmingham. His primary research interests include the education of British South Asians, ethno-religious identities of British Muslims and Islam in Britain. Dr Abbas has published over twenty peer-reviewed articles in international journals and edited a number of books. He is author of The Education of British South Asians: Ethnicity, Capital and Class Structure (Palgrave, 2004) and editor of Muslim Britain: Communities under Pressure (Zed, 2005). Before joining the Department of Sociology at the University of Birmingham in 2003, Dr Abbas was Senior Research Officer at the Home Office and the Department for Constitutional Affairs. Dr Abbas is currently researching and writing his next book, British Islam (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

Professor Haleh Afshar

Haleh Afshar is Professor of Politics and Women's Studies at the University of York. She is also the Visiting Professor of Islamic Law at the Faculte Internationale de Droit Compare at Strasbourg. Dr Afshar was born and raised in Iran where she worked as a journalist and a civil servant before coming to the UK. She has served as the Chair for the British Association of Middle Eastern Studies as well as many other gender-related and developmental organisations. In 2005 she was awarded an OBE for services for equal opportunities. Professor Afshar has edited 11 books; the most recent include Women and Globalization and Fragmentation in the Developing World, edited with Stephanie Barrientos and Development, Women, and War , edited with Deborah Eade. In addition to working in the fields of development studies and women's studies Dr Haleh Afshar has also been teaching and researching on issues concerned with Islam and Politics. She has edited a volume entitled Iran a revolution in Turmoil, and has written a book entitled Islam and Feminisms, and one entitled Islam and the Post-Revolutionary State in Iran. In this connection, Professor Afshar remains active in feminist Iranian politics and with issues relating to women and work, women and violence, and women and education in Iran, women and Islamism in Turkey. She has also researching Islamophobia and racism in the UK.

Lord Ahmed

Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham was born in Mirpur (Azad Kashmir) but was brought up in the UK. He studied Public Administration at Sheffield University and joined the Labour Party as a youth. He distinguished himself as a particularly proactive local councillor and founded the British Muslim Councillors' Forum in 1992. Lord Ahmed was also made a Justice of the Peace in the same year. He is a well-known businessman, starting from the humble beginnings of grocer and eventually rising to become a business and property developer. In 1998 he was appointed to the House of Lords as the first Muslim peer. Not surprisingly, much of his activities are in direct relation to his work for the Muslim community, both at home and abroad. Lord Ahmed led a delegation on behalf of the British Government to Saudi Arabia and has used his privileged position to advocate legislation against religious discrimination, international terrorism and forced marriages. Lord Ahmed is a keen proponent of equality for everyone in terms of race, religion and sex and has been actively working towards multi-cultural harmony and international peace in Kashmir, Palestine, Bosnia, Chechnya and other global hotspots. Lord Ahmed assists various charitable causes and is on the board of several local and national organisations.

Mr Joe Ahmed-Dobson

Joe Ahmed-Dobson is the manager of the Damilola Taylor Centre in Peckham, a sports, health and fitness centre for Under 19s which forms part of the London Borough of Southwark's Youth Service. He studied at Manchester University and graduated with a degree in Public Management and Social Policy from London Metropolitan University. Mr Ahmed-Dobson has been working in youth work, community development and regeneration in inner London for the past decade. He has also been active in a number of London-based Muslim organisations where his knowledge of British society and Islamic values has been particularly relevant. Mr Ahmed-Dobson has been prominent in several Muslim anti-drug campaigns and anti-crime initiatives and was the interim director of the London Muslim Centre.

Mr Luqman Ali

Luqman Ali is the artistic director of Khayaal Theatre company based in Luton. He trained in the sciences of Islam and the languages (Arabic, Persian and Urdu) and cultures of the Middle East and the Indian Sub-continent. Mr Ali spent a decade working as a linguist, writer and translator for various publishing houses in both the USA and the UK. Since most of his life has been exposed to the culture and arts of the Muslim world, he has a deep understanding of its ethos and literature. In 1997, Mr Ali took the bold step of co-founding Khayaal, the first professional theatre company of its kind offering audiences a fascinating experience of classic Muslim world culture through contemporary art forms. He has adapted, co-directed and produced Khayaal's award-winning debut production, Conference of the Birds. Mr Ali has since pioneered the dramatic interpretation of tales from across the Muslim world. He continues to serve as Khayaal's chief conceptualist, artistic director and advocate. Although African American by birth, Mr Ali has been based in the UK since 1986. Through his work as a community worker, teacher and lecturer, he has become intimately aware and involved in the affairs of the British Muslim community.

Mr Nasir Awan

Despite his modest beginnings in Northwest Pakistan, Nasir Awan has emerged at the helm of one of the most dynamic Muslim-owned enterprises in the UK. Even while at high school in Birmingham, Mr Awan displayed a strong entrepreneurial spirit by starting a successful home business. Although he obtained a City & Guilds diploma in Technical Electronics in 1978, Mr Awan soon embarked on a promising retailing career which quickly progressed into a successful wholesaling business. His company has now evolved into a top 100 British Asian Plc and is today a major player in the import and distribution sector in the UK. While Mr Awan has extended his business interests by developing a national property portfolio, he self-effacingly regards himself only as a shopkeeper. Mr Awan is the chair of a mosque committee in Birmingham and the vice-chair of the board of governors of an inner city school. He is a trustee of a number of educational trusts which are dedicated to bringing literacy and training to women and the elderly in the local ethnic community.

Dr Waqar Azmi

Waqar Azmi, OBE is chief diversity adviser at the Cabinet Office. He was previously, managing director of equality & diversity at the global firm TMP/Monster Worldwide. Dr Azmi recently served his appointment by the Home Secretary on the judicial public inquiry into the murder of Zahid Mubarek - battered to death by his racist cellmate at Feltham Prison. He was also a member of the Oldham Riots Inquiry Panel and chief executive of Worcestershire Racial Equality Council. Dr Azmi founded the British Federation of Racial Equality Councils, Herefordshire Race Equality Partnership and, Race Equality West Midlands and has researched and published widely while sitting on numerous top-level boards and committees. Dr Azmi is listed in the Asian Who's Who International. In 2001 the University College Worcester awarded him an honorary Master of Arts degree in recognition of his work and in 2002, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for contributions to his field. In 2003 Dr Azmi was awarded Britain's Young Asian Achievers Award by the Institute of Asian Professionals at the Asian Jewel Awards and in 2004, the Royal Society of Arts awarded him an honorary Fellowship.

Ms Anila Baig

Anila Baig was born and raised in Bradford where she lives with her nine-year-old son. Ms Baig began working as a journalist in 1999 when she joined the Telegraph & Argus newspaper as a trainee reporter. After qualifying, she moved to the Yorkshire Post newspaper. As well as writing news reports, she started a weekly column and won the prestigious Press Gazette Regional Columnist of the Year award. This brought her to the attention of Britain's biggest selling newspaper, The Sun. She now writes a weekly column and comment pieces for the paper. She was also a finalist in the Asian Women of Achievement awards and is currently embarking on a forthcoming TV documentary on British Muslims for Channel 4.

Mr Asghar Bukhari & Mr Muddassar Ahmed

Despite his relative youth, Asghar Bukhari has radicalised British Muslim involvement in the UK's political and electoral systems. He is the Chief Executive of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK which has galvanised Muslim political activity especially during the last general election. After completing his BSc degree in Information Technology at the University of Leicester, Mr Bukhari started work as a Design Consultant. He is also a freelance journalist and has written extensively about issues affecting the Muslim community in Britain. He has used his professional credentials and expertise to launch MPAC UK.

While Muddassar Ahmed is a youthful 25, he has used his IT and media skills to become the projects manager for MPAC UK. After graduating in International Relations from London Guildhall University, Mr Ahmed entered the workforce as an IT consultant while also serving as a freelance journalist.

Ms Merryl Wyn Davies

After reading anthropology at University College, London, Merryl Wyn Davies began a distinguished career in broadcasting and journalism. Following jobs with local Welsh newspapers, she was hired by BBC Radio. Ms Davies then spent a decade working for BBC TV Religious programmes on programmes like Everyman, Heart of the Matter and Global Report as well as the acclaimed Encounters with Islam documentary. In 1985 she left the BBC to write independently and to work for the London based Muslim magazine of events and ideas, Inquiry/Afkar. Thereafter Ms Davies spent 10 years in Malaysia producing the Faces of Islam TV documentaries. Upon her return to the UK four years ago, she worked as the Media Officer for the Muslim Council of Britain. She is now based in her beloved native Wales. Ms Davies is the author of a number of books, including Knowing One Another. Together with Ziauddin Sardar, she has co-written American Dream, Global Nightmare, The No-Nonsense Guide to Islam, and Why Do People Hate America.

Dr Jaafar El-Murad

Dr Jaafar El-Murad is Head of the Department of Marketing and Business Strategy at Westminster Business School, University of Westminster. Before becoming an academic, he had a number of international marketing roles and consultancy, mainly for UK-domiciled multinationals. His current research interests are in the area of the impact of culture on consumer motivation and the effect of risk attitude on advertising creativity. Dr El-Murad has an MBA from Cranfield, and a DBA from Henley Management College. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Marketing Science and the Chartered Institute of Marketing; a Member of the Marketing Society, and the Higher Education Academy amongst others. Dr El-Murad has published in the Journal of Marketing Management and the Journal of Advertising Research. His father was an Englishman who converted to Islam in 1946 whilst serving as a Captain with the British Army in Malaya and Singapore. Dr El-Murad's mother is Malay while his wife is Lebanese. These different but inter-related antecedents epitomises the cosmopolitan roots of many British Muslims today.

Baroness Falkner of Margravine

Kishwer Falkner entered the House of Lords in 2004. She is Liberal Democrats Spokesman on Communities and Local Government and a member of the Select Committee on the European Union responsible for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development Policy. She is a former member of the House of Commons, House of Lords Joint Committee on Human Rights. Baroness Falkner was born and educated at schools in Pakistan and then latterly at the London School of Economics and the University of Kent. She was formerly Chief Executive of Students Partnership Worldwide, an international charity focussing on the needs of young people in Africa and Asia. Her previous roles have included working for the Commonwealth Secretariat where she was responsible for good governance, democracy and political development in Commonwealth countries. She was a parliamentary candidate in the 2001 General Election and in the 2004 European Parliamentary elections. She also worked for the Liberal Democrats, as Director of Policy and Director of International Affairs from 1993 till 1999. Baroness Falkner has been an elected member of the Liberal Democrats Federal Policy Committee and Chair of Policy for London.

Mr Sajjad Karim

Sajjad Karim is one of nine MEPs representing the North West of England. Since his election, Mr Karim has been promoting the interests and opinions of his constituents on a European platform. He has, in particular, given voice to the ethnic minority communities of his constituency. In this context, Sajjad Karim has been an outspoken critic of the British government's anti-terror legislation and the rising tide of Islamophobia. Mr Karim is one of the faces of modern Britain and was named a High Flyer of British politics by The Times newspaper in its 'Who's Who' 2005. Mr Karim serves on many key European parliamentary committees, including those on human rights and foreign affairs.

Ms Aina Khan

Aina Khan is the Senior Partner and founder of Aina Khan Partnership, a major law firm based in Upton Park, London. She qualified as a Solicitor in 1991 and specialises in Family Law, with clients from all over the UK. Her unique interest in Islamic Family law, and providing solutions for Muslims under English law has transformed her into a well-known women's rights advocate. She regularly appears on TV, radio and in the press, commenting on issues affecting British Muslims and the Asian community. Some of her recent media interviews have been in the Guardian, BBC news and on Radio 4.

Ms Humera Khan

Humera Khan is a freelance consultant and researcher. She has a background in Equal Opportunities and is currently focusing her work on improving policies for services for the Muslim community. Ms Khan is one of the founder members and trustees of An-Nisa Society and has been involved in setting up many projects and developing the work of the organisation. She has been working with families, providing support and counselling on a broad range of issues. Humera has also been part of the Home Office Working Group on Forced Marriages and the Home Office Community Cohesion Review Team set up following the 2001 riots in the North of England.

Mr Javaid Makbool

Javaid Makbool is a barrister and senior partner in the London-based chambers of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary UK LLP. He is head of the Equality and Diversity group, which is part of the UK Human Resources group. Mr Makbool was formerly head of Litigation Services at the Commission for Racial Equality. He has been involved in several high profile legal cases which have made judicial history. and has particular expertise in the financial services sector and in pan-European employment discrimination issues. Mr Makbool also acts on behalf of a number of significant public sector bodies. In addition to defending complex and sensitive legal cases he also provides in-house training to senior Managers/Directors of the large private and public corporations. He advises on general employment law, and the management of discrimination in all non-employment areas. Mr Makbool also advises on human rights issues and has been widely published and regularly contributes to legal and personnel journals. Mr Makbool is a member of the CBI Equality Forum, Law Society Employment Committee and a former adviser to the Government on race relations issues as well as a member of the Islamic Human Rights Commission. Mr Makbool is also active in campaigning for reform of British law to take account of the needs of UK Muslims.

Mr Ali Miraj

Ali Miraj is a Vice President at a leading European Investment Bank and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He was educated at the London School of Economics where he graduated in International Relations and returned to pursue a Masters in Politics of the World Economy. He stood as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Watford at the 2005 general election and also contested Aberavon at the 2001 general Election. Mr Miraj was elected as a councillor in Hillingdon in 1998 at the age of 23 and served as an adviser to the Shadow Foreign Affairs Team from 2001-2003. He is often invited to comment on contemporary political issues and has written articles for the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times.

Baroness Uddin

Baroness Pola Manzila Uddin was born in 1959 and was raised to the peerage as Baroness Uddin, of Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 1998. She received her education at University of North London, where she earned a Diploma in social work. Baroness Uddin's career includes being a Youth and Community worker at a YWCA, Liaison Officer for Tower Hamlets Social Services, and Manager of Tower Hamlets Womens' Health Project. She is a member of the EOP Implementation Committee, and a trustee of St Katherine's and Shadwell Trust. Baroness Uddin has special interests in education, health, children, local government and equal opportunities among others. In addition, she has become a powerful role model for Muslim women in the UK by advocating gender rights and civic empowerment.

Ms Sayeeda Warsi

Sayeeda Warsi is a British born Muslim of Pakistani origin. A solicitor by profession, Ms Warsi has worked for the Home Office, the Crown Prosecution Service and for many years managed her own law firm George Warsi Solicitors in Yorkshire. She has also worked overseas for the Ministry of Law in Pakistan and in Kashmir as Chairman of the Savayra Foundation, a women's empowerment charity. Ms Warsi was instrumental in the launch of Operation Black Vote in Yorkshire, is a member of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust's Racial Justice Committee and writes a column "Straight Talk" in her local paper. Ms was the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Dewsbury at the 2005 General Election, becoming the first Muslim woman to be selected by the Conservatives. She has served as a special adviser to Michael Howard on Community Relations and has just been appointed Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party with specific responsibility for Cities.

Ms Salma Yaqoob

Salma Yaqoob is a mother of three and a clinical psychotherapist. Apart from her parental and professional responsibilities, she is the Chairperson of the Birmingham Stop the War Coalition and one of the activist founding members and national vice-chair of Respect. Most recently, Ms Yaqoob was a candidate in the general election and achieved one of the largest swings in the country - slashing the Labour majority from 16,000 down to 3,000. She is in great demand as an articulate and passionate advocate for social justice and community empowerment. Ms Yaqoob has written many articles on the so-called 'The war on terror' as well as on racism, asylum and immigration. Some of these writings have been published recently in the Arguments Against the G8, edited by Gill Hubbard and David Miller (Pluto Press 2005).