The official review of the UK Government counter-terror strategy Prevent has found that Islamist terrorism is severely under-represented; and there has been an institutional hesitancy to deal with Islamist extremism.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said in a foreword to the Government response to the review that she would ‘rid Prevent of any cultural timidity’. She said: “I am grateful to William Shawcross and welcome his independent review. Prevent will now ensure it focuses on the key threat of Islamist terrorism. As part of this more proportionate approach, we will also remain vigilant on emerging threats, including on the extreme right.
“This independent review has identified areas where real reform is required. This includes a need for Prevent to better understand Islamist ideology, which underpins the predominant terrorist threat facing the UK. I wholeheartedly accept all 34 recommendations and am committed to quickly delivering wholesale change to ensure we are taking every possible step to protect our country from the threat posed by terrorism.”
In the foreword, Ms Braverman said Prevent ‘has given too narrow a scope to Islamist extremism, which has enabled some extremist groups to operate unchecked’, while Prevent ‘has defined the Extreme Right-Wing too broadly’.
Shawcross in a foreword to his review urged that Prevent ought to return, or stay true to its ‘core mission’. He made the point that ‘all too often those who commit terrorist acts in this country have been previously referred to Prevent. This review seeks to address why Prevent apparently failed to understand the danger in these cases and how such failures might be avoided’.
The human rights campaign group Amnesty International laid into the document. Amnesty complains of Prevent having a wide scope for discretionary interpretation, and that the young are disproportionately targets for referrals – that mostly don’t lead further. Ms Braverman in her foreword promises ‘a full evaluation of Channel’, the process of handling those identified as ‘at risk’ of radicalisation.
Ilyas Nagdee, Amnesty UK’s Racial Justice Director, said: “This review is riddled with biased thinking, errors, and plain anti-Muslim prejudice – frankly, the review has no legitimacy. William Shawcross’ history of bigoted comments on Muslims and Islam should have precluded his involvement in this ill-starred review in the first place.
“There’s mounting evidence that Prevent has specifically targeted Muslim communities and activists fighting for social justice and a host of crucial international issues – including topics like the climate crisis and the oppression of Palestinians.
“There is growing evidence that Prevent is having disastrous consequences for many people; eroding freedom of expression, clamping down on activism, creating a compliant generation and impacting on individual rights enshrined in law.
“A proper independent review of Prevent should have looked at the host of human rights violations that the programme has led to – but these have largely been passed over in silence.”
Amnesty points to a ‘People’s Review of Prevent‘ and such cases as a teenage boy who was referred to Prevent for trying to take out books from the school library, including one about terrorism (that is, on the school’s shelves).
Zara Mohammed, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain said many British Muslims may well feel less protected as they are told that the Government should ignore the evidence and focus less on the threat from extreme right-wing extremism. “This is a threat that thrives on Islamophobia, and a threat that has already seen violent attacks on Muslim communities.”
The Home Office also promises an independent standards and compliance unit to provide a way for the public and practitioners to raise concerns about Prevent shortcomings. The Home Office says that Prevent will move from a local model of delivery to a regional one, looking to raise ‘delivery standards’ through more ‘join up’ between the police and regions.
(This refers to priority areas, where as Shawcross stated the Home Office provides extra funding to 42 councils for Prevent work, ‘where the risk of radicalisation and terrorism is judged to be highest’. However, cases such as the Streatham High Street attack (February 2020) and the stabbings in Forbury Gardens, Reading (June 2020) involved perpetrators that either resided in, or had spent significant time within, areas which were not designated as priority areas. Shawcross wrote also of a feeling in ‘non priority areas’ ‘that a lack of funding was hampering any proactive efforts to identify individuals at risk. In large cities like London, there was a feeling that priority designations were arbitrary, given that people are more prone to work, live and mix across’ boroughs.)
Prevent duty guidance will be updated for a consistent referral process, and for those workplaces that under the duty are meant to refer concerns or suspicions – such as teachers and university lecturers, and doctors and other medics. The Home Office says it’s at work to consider extending the Prevent duty, to broaden the ‘touch points’ for those required to identify and refer concerns to Prevent (Shawcross recommended immigration and asylum, through UK Border Force; and JobCentres). Councils in England and Wales will have access to expert Prevent support from the Home Office.
The Home Office will overhaul Prevent training (working there with the Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC and the Commission for Countering Extremism) and guidance for staff, and introduce a security threat check, so decision-making is aligned with the terror threat levels, set by the security services.
Comment
Nesil Caliskan is chair of the Local Government Association’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, and as a Labour councillor leader of the council at the London Borough of Enfield. She said: “As this report acknowledges, councils play an important role in preventing radicalisation and tackling extremism. However, the removal of funding for councils’ counter-extremism work, budgetary pressures on all council services and long-standing uncertainties about how national policy on extremist threats will change has had a significant impact on what councils are able to achieve.”
Background
The review is much-delayed. William Shawcross, former Chair of the Charity Commission, was appointed in January 2021. The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 set a duty on local authorities and others such as schools and hospitals to pay ‘due regard’ to the need to prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism (besides, anyone can raise a concern if they believe an individual is at risk of, or is being, radicalised).
If you’ve seen or heard something that could potentially be related to terrorism, you can report it via https://act.campaign.gov.uk/.
