Anti-Radicalisation Strategy 'Toxic' To Muslims

A Muslim former police chief has condemned the Government's strategy for tackling radicalisation as "toxic".

Former Chief Superintendent Dal Babu has said most Muslims are suspicious of the community-led Prevent scheme, and believe it is being used to spy on them.

Mr Babu, who retired from the Metropolitan Police in 2013, said the force's counter-terrorism command was "virtually all white" and there was a "lack of knowledge" around race and faith issues.

He said: "There's been a lot of concern about the Prevent strategy in the Muslim community over the last few years.

"Prevent was bought in with good intentions but over the years it has alienated the Muslim community who see it as spying.

"It's a toxic brand in the same way the Big Society idea was brought in but we don't hear about it much any more.

"There's a lack of diversity in the police and, equally important, a lack of diversity in children's services."

The Prevent scheme, which has an annual budget of £40m, is one of four parts of Contest - the acronym given to the Government's counter-terrorism strategy.

Aimed at stopping people becoming terrorists, it has been under the spotlight after hundreds of Britons are believed to have travelled to Syria to join Islamic State, including three London schoolgirls who left the UK last month .

In 2014, counter-terror officers received 77 reports from families as part of the Prevent scheme - some of which enabled police to catch potential terrorists.

Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy, national policing lead for Prevent, defended the scheme and said parents must take responsibility for stopping their children being radicalised.

He said: "Extremist voices have been allowed to fill spaces in the media too regularly and this misrepresents the vast majority of Muslims who are committed to British values.

"The prime responsibility for stopping young people thinking of travelling to Syria or other warzones must be with their families and carers, who know them and are able to spot the early signs of radicalisation."

A spokesman from the Home Office said: "As a country, we must consistently challenge the twisted narrative of extremism.

"This Government fundamentally revised the Prevent strategy in 2011 to ensure it challenges terrorist ideology, supports people who are vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism and works with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation."

He added that the Home Office was drawing up a new strategy which deals with "the whole spectrum of extremism".