Parents 'should be told' if youth workers and community leaders have terror or race-hate convictions

Parents have no idea if tutors and youth workers are “avowed dangerous terrorists” and must be given powers to ask about their past, a former anti-extremism worker in Batley has warned.

The former education officer in the town where protestors demanded the sacking of a teacher for showing a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad has called for parents to have the right to know if influential adults working with children hold extremist views.

Matthew Dryden, who worked as the Prevent Education Officer for Kirklees Council, West Yorkshire, until January, said: “We know that extremists are actively targeting children in our communities, attempting to radicalise them into extreme beliefs and ultimately terrorism.

“Many parents will be completely unaware that those with access to their children — including those in positions of trust — will be avowed, dangerous terrorists.”

Mr Dryden has put forward proposals for a Terrorism and Extremism Disclosure Scheme (TEDS) to allow parents to ask police and official bodies to disclose any information they hold on an individual’s terror-related and race hate convictions.

He says this would give parents and guardians the information required to protect their children from the danger of being radicalised by adults such as community leaders and youth workers.

The scheme would allow the disclosure to parents by police, under existing powers, of an individual’s terrorist and racially or religiously motivated criminal history, “where they may pose a safeguarding risk to their child”.

Mr Dryden said: “The Government should urgently consider establishing schemes by which parents are able to understand just who they are dealing with. The authorities must empower friends and family and community sectors to reject all forms of radicalising and extremist influences, and safeguard their children from being drawn into terrorism.”

“Successful disclosure could include notification of a subject’s terrorism and racially or religiously motivated criminal offending history. Disclosure could be made on any individual who may pose a radicalisation risk to any person 18 years and below, including - but not limited to - a sports coach, a tutor, a religious or community leader, or a family or community member."

He said that would give parents and guardians "possession of all the facts, allowing them to make an informed decision about a subject’s suitability for access to their child".

Mr Dryden, who has also worked on Government’s anti-radicalisation programmes, said there was an urgent need for such a measure, with figures showing a ten per cent increase in referrals to the Prevent programme in the year ending March 2020 and a doubling in the number of individuals under eighteen being convicted of terrorism offences in the year ending September 2020.

He says his proposals - which have been submitted to Home Office officials - would address the reluctance of some family members to report their children to Prevent and instead allow them to limit their contact with individuals who have a record of extremism.

“Referring a family or community member to Prevent is, for many, too difficult a step to take,” said Mr Dryden. “The TEDS would allow parents, guardians and carers an alternate way to play an integral part in safeguarding their children from radicalisation, and ultimately, involvement in terrorist activity – without feeling as though they are betraying the loved one they seek to protect.”

His calls come amid fears that extremists may try to exploit the tension surrounding Batley Grammar School over the suspension of the teacher who showed what some parents have described as “offensive” cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed to his class.

Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire sent pupils home early for Easter and issued an apology after the parents of Muslim children gathered at the gates to protest. The religious studies teacher was described as a “terrorist” in a letter from one community leader.

Gary Kibble, the school’s head teacher, apologised over the use of the “inappropriate” image, which is thought to have been taken from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

But the teacher, who lives with his partner and children, remains in hiding after receiving death threats.

He is understood to fear that he may suffer the same fate as Samuel Paty, a teacher who was beheaded in Paris last year after showing his pupils a cartoon of Mohammed during a lesson on freedom of expression.

Dr Paul Stott, associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said: “The potential for extremists to further exploit events in Batley, spreading division to other areas, is very real. Calls for Muslim parents to review the entire set of materials taught in schools shows activists have been emboldened, rather than pacified, by the suspension of a teacher at Batley Grammar. In trying to defuse one issue, the authorities may instead have helped to ignite multiple protests elsewhere.”

The Home Office said employers already have access to potential employees' criminal records in jobs which involve working closely with children or vulnerable adults.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Protecting the public is our top priority. The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world in countering terrorism and hate crime, and local police are in the best position to identify the risks posed by these individuals.

“We continue to work across Government and public bodies to ensure the system is as robust as it can be to keep the public safe."