UK Government Strategy Has ‘Double Standard’ When Dealing With Extreme Right and Islamism, Says Independent Review

Report also found funding was being given to groups 'sympathetic with Taliban'

A mural bears the logo of the ISIS terrorist group in the village of Albu Sayf, Iraq, on March 1, 2017. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)

An independent review of the British government’s Prevent strategy has found it is “not doing enough to counter non-violent Islamist extremism” and “has a double standard when dealing with the extreme right-wing and Islamism.”

The review was ordered by former Home Secretary Priti Patel in 2019 but on Wednesday her successor, Suella Braverman, said the government would be accepting all 34 recommendations in the report.

Braverman described the 188-page review, led by the former Chairman of the Charity Commission, William Shawcross, as “superb” and “unflinching,” and she said it showed that the Prevent strategy had been influenced by “cultural timidity” and “institutional hesitancy” for fear of being accused of Islamophobia.

The report recommended a series of reforms to the Prevent strategy, which was founded by Tony Blair’s Labour government in 2003 in the wake of 9/11, and the Channel panels set up to try and deradicalise vulnerable people.

The Shawcross report (pdf) said, “Prevent must return to its overarching objective: to stop individuals from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.”

It added: “Challenging extremist ideology should not be limited to proscribed organisations but should also cover domestic extremists operating below the terrorism threshold who can create an environment conducive to terrorism.”

“Prevent takes an expansive approach to the extreme right-wing, capturing a variety of influences that, at times, has been so broad it has included mildly controversial or provocative forms of mainstream, right-wing leaning commentary that have no meaningful connection to terrorism or radicalisation.

“However, with Islamism, Prevent tends to take a much narrower approach centred around proscribed organisations, ignoring the contribution of non-violent Islamist narratives and networks to terrorism,” it added.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman making a statement to MPs in the House of Commons, London, on Dec. 14, 2022. (House of Commons/PA Media)

Braverman responded in Parliament, saying: “Prevent has defined the extreme right wing too broadly, encompassing the respectable right and the centre right. The threat from the extreme right-wing must not be minimised. It is serious and it is growing. It must be robustly addressed, but it is not the same, either in nature or scale, as the threat from Islamism.”

The report also found fault with the work being done with convicted terrorists, such as Usman Khan, who stabbed to death two volunteers at a prisoner rehabilitation event at the Fishmongers Hall in central London in November 2019.

Shawcross said: “I am not satisfied that sufficient precaution is being applied to rehabilitation work. As the murderous Fishmongers Hall attack of 2019 showed, optimism bias can have tragic consequences. Procedures need to be built in that can correct this.”

“It is vital to avoid complacency around the danger that ideologically driven offenders may continue to pose, and how this can differ from other types of offending. This requires staff to understand the ideology itself, how it manifests, and the risks it can pose,” he added.

The report also criticised groups funded by Prevent.

Shawcross said: “I was consistently unable to determine how many Prevent-funded civil society organisations (CSOs) and community projects are achieving impact. I found there were inadequate mechanisms to evaluate individual projects. Funding too often goes towards generic projects dealing with community cohesion and hate crime, and few CSOs could be seen publicly to contest extremist discourse.”

Prevent Money Supporting Groups ‘Sympathetic to the Taliban’

He added: “Of particular concern, I discovered that some CSOs have promoted extremist narratives, including statements that appear sympathetic to the Taliban. As a core principle, the government must cease to engage with or fund those aligned with extremism.”

Shawcross said: “I was disturbed by the prevalence of antisemitism within the Channel cases I observed. Individuals discussed at Channel panels tended to harbour violent and fanatical beliefs about Jews, often expressing an intent to kill, assault or blow-up members of the Jewish community.”

“Prevent must better understand and tackle antisemitism where it is relevant to its work. As part of this pursuit, Prevent work should cover UK extremist networks supportive of terrorist movements that explicitly target Jewish communities. Prevent should also better address the anti-Jewish component of both Islamist and extreme right wing ideology,” the report added.

The Home Office said Prevent would need to be overhauled and Braverman committed herself to “delivering wholesale and rapid change.”

Braverman said: “Prevent will now ensure it focuses on the key threat of Islamist terrorism. As part of this more proportionate approach, we will also remain vigilant on emerging threats, including on the extreme right.”

“This independent review has identified areas where real reform is required. This includes a need for Prevent to better understand Islamist ideology, which underpins the predominant terrorist threat facing the UK,” she added.

Detective Chief Superintendent Maria Lovegrove, Counter Terrorism Policing’s national coordinator for Prevent, said, “The terrorist threats we face now are very different to when Prevent began, and a strong collective approach is absolutely vital if we are to keep up with this changing landscape and its growing dimensions.”

Lovegrove promised to work alongside the Home Office to respond to the recommendations.

PA Media contributed to this report.