Category Archives: Prevent strategy

Israel-Gaza war behind surge in Islamist activity, says UK counter-terror head

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Britain faces ‘dangerous climate’ as online propaganda and referrals to Prevent surge, says policing leader

The conflict in the Middle East has led to a surge in Islamist activity, with online terrorist propaganda rocketing and new individuals feared to have been radicalised, the head of counter-terrorism policing has said.

Metropolitan police assistant commissioner Matt Jukes, who is head of the UK Counter Terrorism Policing network, said the events had led to a “dangerous climate” with indications of a rising threat, after Hamas’s atrocity against Israel on 7 October last year led to a sustained Israeli assault on Gaza with heavy civilian casualties still continuing.

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UK counter-terrorism report author accused of basing conclusions on ‘handful of cases’

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William Shawcross analysed just six Channel cases before calling for more focus on Islamist extremism, say critics

The author of a controversial review into Britain’s counter-terrorism strategy has been accused of failing to do his job properly because he attended only a handful of the thousands of meetings of its key deradicalisation programme.

William Shawcross was appointed to review Prevent, the government’s counter-extremism programme, in January 2021. Last week his controversial conclusion that the programme had concentrated too much on the far right and not enough on Islamist extremism was met with widespread condemnation.

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UK warned it is failing to adapt as terror threat shifts from groups to lone attackers

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Five years after London Bridge and Borough Market attacks, watchdog says psychologists should feature in counter-terrorism

Psychologists and behavioural scientists should be deployed more frequently to counter-terrorism operations as the number of neurodivergent individuals under investigation rises, a watchdog has advised.

The government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation told the Observer that evaluating the threat from individuals with conditions like autism was becoming an increasingly prevalent challenge. Jonathan Hall QC said: “You are seeing a lot more neurodivergence and mental health coming into terrorist investigations, and that’s also having an impact on deradicalisation programmes.

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UK Prevent scheme should be ‘ideologically blind’, says adviser

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Amid leaks of strategy’s review, Sara Khan says focus on only one form of extremism is counterproductive

The counter-terrorism Prevent programme, which has been dogged by claims of being a cover to spy on Muslim communities, should be “ideologically blind”, a government adviser has said.

The strategy is currently the subject of a review by Sir William Shawcross, and leaks suggest it will conclude that Prevent has been too focused on rightwing extremism in recent years. Instead it will say there should be a renewed focus on Islamist extremism, the leaks show, prompting accusations that the findings are politically motivated.

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UK’s anti-terror chief fears rights group boycott threatens Prevent review

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Neil Basu says move to protest appointment of William Shawcross could harm process

Britain’s best chance of reducing terrorist violence risks being damaged amid a huge backlash to the government’s choice of William Shawcross to lead a review of Prevent, the country’s top counter-terrorism officer has told the Guardian.

Assistant commissioner Neil Basu’s comments came after key human rights and Muslim groups announced a boycott of the official review of Prevent, which aims to stop Britons being radicalised into violent extremism.

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Largest number of Prevent referrals related to far-right extremism

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Of cases referred on to Channel, 43% were for rightwing and 30% for Islamist radicalisation

Just 11% of referrals to the government’s controversial Prevent programme were ultimately deemed to be at risk of radicalisation, with the largest number of referrals relating to far-right extremism.

The annual figures emerged as James Brokenshire, the security minister, warned that far-right terror posed “a growing threat” which had been accelerated by the amplification of conspiracy theories online during the pandemic.

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Government to be challenged in court over Prevent reviewer

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Legal action from Rights Watch (UK) comes amid spate of terror attacks in London

The government’s failure to appoint an independent reviewer of its Prevent strategy and assess the controversial de-radicalisation programme’s effectiveness is to be challenged in court.

The decision by Rights Watch (UK) to initiate legal action against the Home Office comes amid terror attacks in London that raise questions about whether young men can be successfully directed away from terrorist violence.

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Greenpeace included with neo-Nazis on UK counter-terror list

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Exclusive: Extinction Rebellion and Peta also named in anti-extremism briefing alongside Combat 18 and National Action

A counter-terrorism police document distributed to medical staff and teachers as part of anti-extremism briefings included Greenpeace, Peta and other non-violent groups as well as neo-Nazis, the Guardian has learned.

The guide, produced by Counter Terrorism Policing, is used across England as part of training for Prevent, the anti-radicalisation scheme designed to catch those at risk of committing terrorist violence.

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Extinction Rebellion could sue police over extremist ideology listing

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Group threatens action after being named in guide designed to help prevent terrorism

Extinction Rebellion is threatening legal action against counter-terrorism police for what it said was the illegal listing of the group an extremist ideology in a guide designed to help stop terrorist violence.

The Guardian revealed on Friday that counter-terrorism police placed the non-violent protest group on a list of extremist ideologies that should be reported to the authorities running the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme. Police now say that was an error.

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Lifestyle website for Muslim teens is covertly funded by the Home Office

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Two SuperSisters employees resign after discovering links to counter-extremism strategy

A Muslim online lifestyle platform targeting British teenagers is covertly funded by the Home Office’s counter-extremism programme, the Observer has learned.

The revelation about funding of the project has led to a row between its owners, a former Muslim employee and its Muslim audience.

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Foiled terrorist attacks on UK soil have risen to 22, says top officer

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Counter-terrorism chief defends efficiency of controversial Prevent strategy

The UK’s most senior counter-terrorism officer has revealed that the number of attacks foiled since the Westminster atrocity has risen to 22, with seven relating to suspected far-right terror.

Speaking at a conference in Israel, assistant commissioner Neil Basu disclosed the updated figure as he laid out the law enforcement case in support of the government’s divisive anti-radicalisation strategy, Prevent.

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Home Office faces legal battle over Prevent reviewer

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Human rights campaigners claim Lord Carlile’s appointment undermines review’s credibility

Human rights campaigners have threatened the Home Office with legal action over its appointment of Lord Carlile as the independent reviewer of its anti-radicalisation programme Prevent.

The peer’s appointment, announced this month, was met with criticism from human rights and civil liberties groups, citing his previous on-record support for the Prevent programme.

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UK’s Prevent strategy ‘biggest threat to free speech on campus’

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Policy is disempowering and has chilling effect provoking self censorship, says Liberty

The Prevent strategy for curtailing extremism in the UK is the biggest threat to free speech at universities rather than media caricatures of “snowflake” students, according to a director of Liberty.

Corey Stoughton, director of advocacy at the human rights organisation, said the tactics of the strategy for monitoring campus activism had a “chilling effect” on black and Muslim students, provoking self censorship for fear of being labelled extremist.

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Terror plotter had 16 meetings with Prevent officers, court hears

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Lewis Ludlow, who pleaded guilty to planning Oxford Street attack, faces sentencing

A Muslim convert plotted a terror attack on Oxford Street despite repeated attempts by authorities to deradicalise him, a court has heard.

The former Royal Mail worker Lewis Ludlow, 27, of Rochester, Kent, said he was filled with “animosity and hatred” when he swore allegiance to Islamic State, the Old Bailey heard.

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