The Prevent Against Terrorism program, which has been haunted by claims to be a cover for spying on Muslim communities, should be “ideologically blind,” a government adviser said.
The strategy is currently under review by Sir William Shawcross, and leaks suggest that he will conclude that Prevent has focused too much on right-wing extremism in recent years. Instead, he will say that he should focus again on Islamist extremism, show the leaks, which led to accusations that the findings have political motivations.
Speaking to Nick Robinson on the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast, Dame Sara Khan, an activist who has in the past been accused of being a spokeswoman for the Home Office, said that the strategy against extremism in the UK, which it is separate from the anti-terrorism scheme. involving Prevent, it was “completely obsolete, no longer fit for purpose.”
Asked about Prevent, the former counter-extremist commissioner, who now advises leveling secretary Michael Gove on social cohesion, said: “Good politics must be ideologically blind … There is the far right, Islamist, Sikh , there is Hindu nationalism, there are all different types of extremism, there is the far left, for example, you have to deal with all these kinds of problems, and just trying to focus on one at the expense of the other is totally counterproductive “.
He also expressed concern about the “incel” ideology, which some believe was motivated by Jake Davison, the 22-year-old who killed five people in a gun attack in Plymouth last year.
Last year was the first time that the number of references to Prevent related to the far right exceeded those of Islamist radicalization. References to far-right threats from the Prevent a Channel program, which offers more intense intervention, had already overcome Islamist radicalization since 2019-20.
Khan said Muslim distrust of Prevent had been fueled because the government did not explain its purpose. “They did not go out and tell the Muslim communities what Prevent is about,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then [which Islamists stepped into] … I think that having this commitment, continuing to interact with the communities, explaining what the program is, addressing the concerns, I think this should continue in a much better way than we have seen before ”.
When Khan was appointed to head the newly formed Anti-Extremism Commission in 2018, critics included former Conservative President Sayeeda Warsi, Britain’s Muslim Council and Labor MP Naz Shah.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter, every weekday morning at 7:00 BST
Khan told the BBC that Warsi’s comments, which he described as a “creation and spokesman for the Home Office”, as well as not being connected to British Muslims, were “ridiculous”.
He said he was clear that there was “genuine hatred” against Muslims in the UK, but that Islamist extremists had exploited Islamophobia.
“We know there is discrimination against Muslims in the workplace and so on,” he said. “However, having said that, I am also very aware that there are Islamist groups in this country that have adopted the language of Islamophobia to use as a cover for Islamist extremism … So, for example, when Islamist groups say whether I speak or you. We talk and condemn Islamist extremism and now we are suddenly called Islamophobes, this is totally and utterly unacceptable. And what he’s trying to do is silence the dissent, he’s actually creating a climate of censorship and fear. “
This article, including the headline, was amended on June 3, 2022. An earlier version erroneously quoted Sara Khan as saying that Prevent was not fit for purpose. In fact, he was referring to the government’s strategy against extremism, which is a separate scheme.