Official review finds scant evidence of state funds going to extremists

Report on Prevent counter-terrorist strategy also reveals referrals of ‘at-risk’ people four times higher than thought There is no evidence to indicate widespread, systematic or deliberate funding of extremist groups by the Home Office, the police or local authorities, the official review of the government’s Prevent counter-terrorism strategy concludes. The 120-page official report does concede that there have been cases where groups “whom we would now consider to support an extremist ideology have received funding” but says this just demonstrates stricter monitoring is needed to ensure it does not happen again. The tone of the report appears to be at odds with the way the home secretary, Theresa May, trailed her Commons announcement of a revision of counter-terrorism strategy, introduced after the 7 July 2005 bombings, to tackle the roots of homegrown terrorism. It reveals that 1,120 people – four times the publicly known figure – have been referred since 2007 to the government Channel programme as being at risk of being involved in violent extremism, including 290 under-16s and 55 children under 12. The majority were named by schools, colleges, the police and youth offending teams but the report acknowledges that not all of them were specifically at risk of being drawn into terrorism. It also warns that identifying very young children in this way risks undermining the credibility of the Channel programme as a whole. The report confirms that progress has been made in preventing violent extremism but says the effort has not consistently reached the few people who are most susceptible to terrorist propaganda. “It has failed to recognise the way in which terrorist ideology makes use of ideas espoused by extremist organisations and has not fully understood the implications this should have for the scope of our work.” While it concludes that money has been wasted on ineffective overseas projects, it says work abroad should continue and the Foreign Office will continue to provide £10m of the £46m to be spent on the Prevent programme this year. It will also introduce a new definition of extremism as “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance for different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.” The review found evidence that some funding had reached “a small number of organisations who had expressed (or employed people who had expressed) extremist views” but says that investigations are continuing. The document goes on to make clear that, while neither funding nor support will be given to extremist organisations, that does not mean it will shun them totally. “There may be cases where the government judges that there is a need to engage with groups or individuals who it would never choose to fund. That may particularly be the case overseas where we may need to engage with groups or individuals that are seen as moderate in their own country but not in the UK.” Whitehall sources said the agreed strategy has the flexibility to allow Liberal Democrat ministers to appear on some Islamic platforms which Conservatives may choose to shun. The review says there has been no systematic attempt to recruit or radicalise people in full-time education but does acknowledge that groups such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir have targeted colleges with a large number of Muslim students. It notes that 40 universities were identified in 2009 as at risk but the Home Office seems more concerned that some of the institutions involved failed to take the warning seriously. It cites examples of students engaging with terrorism while members of university societies affiliated to the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, and says the organisation should strengthen its engagement with the National Union of Students. In the Commons, the home secretary unequivocally told MPs that Prevent funding had reached “the very organisations that it should have been confronting” and insisted it would now be extended to tackle “the insidious impact of non-violent extremism”. The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the review demonstrated a massive gap between the government’s rhetoric and the reality of their policies. UK security and terrorism Theresa May Terrorism policy Alan Travis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 7, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.