Home Secretary Suella Braverman
(Picture: PA Wire)A relentless focus on tackling the life-threatening danger posed by Islamist supporters was placed at the centre of a major overhaul of the Government’s Prevent counter-extremism strategy unveiled by Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Ms Braverman told police and others responsible for delivering the controversial programme that “real reform” was needed to refocus their efforts on Islamist ideology “which underpins the predominant terrorist threat facing the UK” to stop their mission being blurred by too much attention being paid to other forms of extremist belief.
She added that she was accepting all 34 recommendations of a review of Prevent carried out by the former Charity Commission head William Shawcross, which sets out a list of flaws in the current approach and recommends a return to concentrating on the danger posed by Islamists and their ideology.
“Prevent will now ensure it focuses on the key threat of Islamist terrorism,” Ms Braverman said on Wednesday.
“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.”
Ms Braverman’s announcement came as the long-awaited review of Prevent by Mr Shawcross was published in Parliament.
It warns that there has not been enough focus on the danger posed by Islamist extremists, who have been responsible for the overwhelming majority of terrorist attacks and plots, and that the focus on this threat has been blurred by excessive attention to the far-Right.
Mr Shawcross also says that extremism is too often being treated as a form of illness requiring safeguarding help instead of recognised as a cause of lethal attacks that imperil the public.
In further findings, Mr Shawcross’s review, which was commissioned by the former Home Secretary Priti Patel amid concerns about the number of attacks being carried out by extremists previously referred to Prevent, warns that taxpayers’ money allocated for the programme has been given on occasions to groups which have promoted Islamist extremism. It says that there has also been a failure to counter Islamist sympathisers who have made unjustified criticisms of the programme in an attempt to discredit its work.
Prevent is a voluntary scheme intended to deradicalise those identified by police, teachers, health staff, social workers and others as being at risk of extremism.
It was originally introduced in the 2000s under Labour before being revised in 2011 in attempt to tackle the ideology that inspires terrorism more effectively. It also contains a more intensive scheme, known as Channel, for those judged to present the greatest risk.
Critics, who had already responded positively to early publicity about Mr Shawcross’s conclusions, have complained since then, however, that it has lost its way and been diverted from its core purpose by excessive concern for the welfare of those on the programme and too many referrals for those deemed to be at risk from Far Right extremism.
The overwhelming majority of referrals in the early years of Prevent were because of concerns about Islamist extremism.
The most recent statistics, which cover the 12 months to the end of March last year, show, by contrast, that referrals for Far Right extremism, which totalled 1,309, outstripped those for Islamism, which accounted for 1,207, for the second year running. The total number of referrals during the year was 6,406, up 30 per cent on the previous year, and included 2,127 referrals of people judged to have a “vulnerability present but no ideology or counter-terrorism risk”.
The increased focus of Prevent on the Far Right has come despite both counter-terrorism police and MI5 making clear that Islamists account for around three quarters of plots and and the overwhelming majority of suspects.
Terrorist attacks carried out by Islamist extremists previously referred to Prevent include the murder of MP Sir David Amess by Londoner Ali Harbi Ali in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex in October 2021.
Police have insisted nonetheless that Prevent remains a vital part of the counter-terrorism effort and, despite its failures, has also successfully diverted many who might otherwise have been drawn into terrorist violence.
