Islamist extremism ‘not being effectively tackled by Government’

Islamist extremism is not being effectively tackled by the Government, the independent reviewer of Prevent has said, as he warned it was fuelling a “dangerous” surge in anti-Semitism.

In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, William Shawcross said the Government had failed to fully implement his proposals to overhaul Prevent, its counter terror programme, which meant the public faced an increased threat from extremists and terrorists.

He said the failure to take tougher action stemmed from a continuing bias within Prevent towards tackling the rise in Right-wing terrorism rather than the main threat of Islamist terrorism.

Mr Shawcross said he warned ministers a year ago about the need to tackle the “pernicious” threat from the Hamas support network in the UK which had now become “more dangerous” following the terror group’s attack on Israel on October 7.

He blamed the network’s members for fuelling the “horrific” increase in anti-Semitism and encouraging anti-Semitic abuse and banners on pro-Palestinian marches.

“The Government is failing to implement my recommendations properly and the British people are therefore in more danger from extremists and terrorists,” said Mr Shawcross, who was commissioned to produce the report by the Government and is now Commissioner for Public Appointments.

He said he was “glad” there had been progress on his proposals but said the Government had not gone far enough on key recommendations, including focusing Prevent on Islamist terrorism, enshrining its principles in counter-terror law, extending it to illegal immigration and combating the misuse of blasphemy.

“Some of the things I’ve recommended that have not been carried out do represent such an increased threat because October 7 has changed everything,” said Mr Shawcross. “I am concerned about the increased threat to the public that exists after October 7 which still needs to be addressed.”

Hamas should not “exist at all” in Britain but he said: “There are Hamas supporters in this country tragically and some of them are involved in helping promote these marches. There’s the Palestinian forum in Britain, which is known to be close to Hamas and have met with Hamas leadership.

“There is an underlying Hamas support network, which is very dangerous and should be dealt with by both Prevent and the police.”

Mr Shawcross, whose report was published a year ago, said he believes the bias towards Right-wing terrorism is partly driven by Prevent staff’s fears of being labelled racist or Islamophobic.

He cited MI5 data that 75 per cent of its caseload was focused on Islamist threats, yet the latest figures for referrals to the Prevent programme showed just 11 per cent related to Islamist terrorism.

“One of the reasons why there is sometimes a reluctance to address the Islamist threat is that people are frightened of being called Islamophobic or racist. It’s become a hugely effective form of censorship: ‘Oh, you’re just a racist. You’re an Islamophobe.’ And people don’t like that for obvious reasons,” said Mr Shawcross.

“So when you say there’s a Right-wing threat, you’re not in the danger of becoming racist. So that is an area that is still there and I think the fear of being called an Islamaphobe or a racist has grown since October 7.”

He said Prevent needed to “more effectively” challenge extremists, as he warned failure to do so would fuel the “terrifying” growth in anti-Semitism.

“I have Jewish friends whose children are at universities around the country who are frightened for the first time in their lives. It is an appalling situation. I never thought that we would see on the streets of Britain, British citizens shouting death to the Jews. It’s absolutely appalling,” he said.

He urged the Government to enshrine the new approach to Prevent in the counter terrorism act of 2015, as he recommended. “This is because Prevent over-focuses on personal and social vulnerabilities at the expense of ideology as a motivation of terrorism. This hasn’t been amended in law. It must happen to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect the public,” he said.

He said ministers had also failed to extend Prevent to Border Force, despite a surge in illegal immigration. “It’s an anomaly. Border Force should be using it because there is so much illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants who have got into the country have been responsible for some terrorist attacks in the last few years,” he said.

He said the Government had promised to issue guidance to combat the way blasphemy was being used by Muslims to censor free speech and silence critics of Islamist extremism but had failed to do so. He cited the teacher in Batley driven out of his school by “a mob of extremists” and into hiding after showing pupils a satirical image of the prophet Muhammad.

“It is a form of abusive censorship. It’s difficult to resist for schools and it shouldn’t be happening. The government promised that they would issue guidance on this, and that has not yet happened and it should do,” said Mr Shawcross.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We have made significant progress to deliver a strengthened Prevent which places tackling terrorist ideologies at its core.

“William Shawcross’ Review was critical to ensuring Prevent is fit for purpose, which is why we accepted his recommendations in full. One year on, we have delivered 30 of the 34 recommendations he made, and we are making rapid progress on delivering the remaining four.

“The government agrees that extreme Islamist ideology presents the greatest threat to the UK, and has moved swiftly to update Prevent duty guidance and training to make that clear.”

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