The new government that has been formed by the coalition of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats published its programme for government on Thursday 20 May. It represents a compromise between the manifestos of the two parties as presented to the electorate at the General Election.

Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, Minister of State for Security at the Home Office and former senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, signalled a change in approach for the Home Office by conducting her first interview since her appointment for Islam Channel. She used the opportunity of this interview to suggest that the government will be adopting a different approach to counter-terrorism. She began the interview by re-stating the maxim that counter-terrorism can only be successful if it works with the Muslim community.