TL;DR
- An independent commission has stated that the UK’s Prevent counter-terrorism strategy is ineffective and requires a radical overhaul, noting that 90% of referrals lack identifiable ideological concerns.
- The commission recommends narrowing the definition of terrorism for greater clarity, and suggests reviews every five years of government decisions to proscribe organisations, amidst legal challenges involving Palestine Action.
- Urgent changes are called for due to a shift in terrorist threats towards self-initiated individuals with unclear ideologies, indicating that Prevent’s current model is inadequate for addressing modern risks.
UK’s Prevent counter-terrorism strategy ‘is no longer keeping the country safe’, commission warns | UK News
The UK’s Prevent counter-terrorism strategy “is no longer keeping the country safe” and needs a “radical overhaul”, an independent commission has found.
It said 90% of people referred to the scheme are turned away because they have no obvious ideology, even though they can go on to commit violent crimes.
In a wide-ranging report, the commission also recommended narrowing the definition of what constitutes terrorism to provide greater clarity.
And it called for decisions by government to proscribe organisations to be reviewed every five years to ensure proportionality. That recommendation comes as the Home Office faces a legal challenge over its decision to ban the activist group Palestine Action.