Britain’s official anti-radicalisation unit has released a “refresher awareness” course on the government’s website. It indicates that doubting the wisdom of mass immigration could now be grounds for referring a person to state supervision.
Prevent is sometimes seen as operating a ‘UK terror watchlist,’ but its formal goal is “to support people susceptible to radicalisation.” Public servants undertaking its online training are now advised to look out for individuals who believe that
Western culture is under threat from mass migration and a lack of integration by certain ethnic and cultural groups.
Many working in education or local authorities will be obliged to complete the course, either as a condition of employment or as part of their continuing professional development. Earlier iterations of Prevent training were already criticised for equating genuine far-right terrorism in Britain in the 21st century (three fatalities) with Islamist terror (96 dead).
In fact, even as the total number of Prevent referrals fell to a three-year low in 2019—with Islamist-related cases in decline—right-wing-related referrals hit a record high, accounting for 24% of all cases, up from just 18% the previous year.
The Home Office attempted to defend its latest endeavour, claiming
Prevent is not about restricting debate or free speech, but about protecting those susceptible to radicalisation.
It has since been pointed out that these new criteria would include most of the UK population—including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, following his recent ‘Island of Strangers’ speech—indicating just how much Prevent is a politically captured institution.
MCC Brussels executive director Frank Furedi said the aim of the new guidance is to stamp out debate on multiculturalism:
Prevent’s guidance is not to increase Britain’s prison population with cultural nationalists. Its aim is to silence discussion on issues to do with race, Islam, social cohesion and multiculturalism. It wants to ensure that so-called controversial views on this subject are silenced and that the concerns of people become inaudible.
While the programme’s leaders invent new ‘terrorist ideologies’ to pursue, Prevent seems particularly bad at preventing real threats to the public. Among the numerous ‘referrals’ to/graduates from the scheme who go on to commit violent offences is Southport triple murderer Axel Rudakubana.
