‘Mismatch’ between Prevent’s focus on Islamist extremism and threat posed, claims report
There is a “fundamental mismatch” between the threat posed by Islamist terrorism and the attention afforded to it by the Prevent strategy, according to a new report.
The report, published today by the Henry Jackson Society, finds that despite the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation repeatedly finding that the UK faces the greatest terroristic threat from Islamists, far more resources are being devoted to other forms of extremism.
Just 24% of all Prevent referrals and 30% of Channel cases relate to Islamist extremists.
Comparatively, 22% of referrals and 43% of Channel cases are for far-right extremism. The report says “accordingly, Home Office data reveals that far-right extremists outstrip Islamist extremists in terms of referrals to the government’s Prevent scheme which result in the offering of counter-radicalisation support and monitoring”.
The 2019 Independent Review of Terrorism Legislation by Jonathan Hall Q.C., published in March 2021, concluded that “Islamist terrorism remains the principal threat in Great Britain”, with the majority of terrorism convictions in 2019 relating to Islamist terrorism.
In 2020, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that “the vast majority of the suspects on [MI5’s 43,000 person terror watchlist] – as many as 39,000 – are jihadists, compared to a few thousand right-wing extremists”.
Last year, just 210 Islamist extremists were referred to Channel for de-radicalisation.
According to the report’s author, Dr Rakib Ehsan, this means that “there is all too real prospect of Islamist extremists who present a significant security risk, not being sufficiently monitored by the public authorities.”
The paper warns that “the UK cannot afford to be paralysed by political correctness and tribal identity politics in the fight against Islamist extremism – a terror threat that concerns both Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain to similar degrees”.
