Return the Prevent counter-terrorism scheme to its original purpose
After the attacks on America in September 2001, governments around the world rushed to put in place strategies to deal with an upsurge of radical Islamism. In Britain the counter-terrorism protocol was called Contest and comprised four parts, one of which was Prevent, a programme targeting those at risk of radicalisation.
Over the years, however, the Prevent programme has lost its way. A reluctance to focus on Islamist threats morphed into an equal fixation on far-Right groups and then on other types of extremist behaviour. Schools are as likely to refer pupils to Prevent for showing interest in someone like the blogger Andrew Tate or for harassing women teachers as for signs of support for jihad.
When Labour came to office, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, ordered a review - known as a Rapid Analytical Sprint - to determine its policy towards extremism. The work has been leaked to the Policy Exchange think-tank and makes for disturbing reading. It says the UK’s approach should no longer be based on “ideologies of concern” but on a wide range of “behaviours,” including violence against women and girls and “spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories.”
Other areas of concern are an interest in gore or extreme violence, misogyny, or involvement in “an online subculture called the manosphere.” Yet the review proposes reversing the last government’s efforts to rein in so-called non-crime hate incidents. Worse still, it suggests compounding this pernicious approach by introducing a new offence of “causing psychological harm” which would be open season on anyone with strong opinions.
If this goes ahead we will see an expansion of the definition of extremism that will overwhelm the system and make it even harder to spot those who have both been radicalised and pose a danger. As Policy Exchange observed, it risks addressing symptoms, not causes, and downplays Islamism as just another threat.
Is this because Labour fears the Muslim vote in a number of constituencies – losing three seats at the last election – and is anxious to avoid being accused of targeting a particular group? In failing to address the threat head on the Government will end up targeting legitimate differences of opinion in order to avoid charges of “racism” or Islamophobia.
The Home Office needs to drop this scattergun approach now and return Prevent to its original purpose.