The head of a criticised review into the Government’s anti-terror programme has said he is “happy and very grateful” to receive a knighthood.
The commissioner for public appointments Sir William Shawcross has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List for his public service.
Sir William’s long-awaited report on the Prevent programme – which aims to stop people turning to terrorism – was published earlier this year, shortly after he announced an investigation into the selection of BBC chairman Richard Sharp amid concerns over his role in helping Boris Johnson secure a loan.
On his honour, the former Charity Commission chairman told the PA news agency: “I am happy and very grateful.”
The review into Prevent, ordered by former home secretary Priti Patel in 2019, found it was “out of kilter with the rest of the counter-terrorism system, and the UK terrorism threat picture” and “must return to its overarching objective: to stop individuals from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism”.
Terrorism was wrongly treated as a mental illness and there was a “failure” by those working on Prevent to properly understand the nature of ideology in Islamist radicalisation which risks “several potentially serious consequences”, he said.
However, Sir William said in his review that accusations Prevent was anti-Muslim were an insult, and alleged that there was a concerted campaign to undermine it.
Some MPs and campaigners heavily criticised the review, with human rights group Amnesty International UK claiming it was “riddled with biased thinking”.
The charity’s racial justice director Ilyas Nagdee said the report had no legitimacy, and claimed the scheme had unfairly targeted Muslim social activists.
Mr Nagdee said: “This review is riddled with biased thinking, errors, and plain anti-Muslim prejudice – frankly, the review has no legitimacy.
“William Shawcross’s history of biased comments on Muslims and Islam should have precluded his involvement in this ill-starred review in the first place.”
Labour MP Zarah Sultana accused Mr Shawcross of having an “anti-Muslim attitude”.
In January, Sir William Shawcross said he would review the competition which led to Mr Sharp getting the BBC job.
He subsequently recused himself, because he had met Mr Sharp a number of times, with Adam Heppinstall KC appointed to lead the investigation.
It found found there were “no concerns” about Mr Sharp’s integrity while he was BBC chairman.
