Press releases
Sunday 8th March, 2009
UK anti-terror strategy in danger of backfiring, warns new report
A key element of the British government’s counter-terrorism strategy is in danger of backfiring, according to new research released in a report by the leading think tank Policy Exchange.
The report, entitled Choosing our friends wisely: Criteria for engagement with Muslim groups, is an authoritative analysis of Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE), the £90 million centrepiece of the government’s effort to stop the radicalisation of young Muslims.
In a preface to the report, the former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Ruth Kelly, explains that the official thinking behind PVE was:
“…to “rebalance” our relationships with Muslim communities significantly towards those organizations that were taking a proactive leadership role in tacking extremism and defending our shared values.”
The report’s author, Shiraz Maher, sets out how the sound principles and good intentions of PVE have been compromised by muddled thinking as to the appropriate criteria for selecting Muslim groups as partners and by lax implementation at local level.
Most disturbing are examples from across the country of the authorities actually working with extremists – with PVE funding intended to counter radicalisation sometimes ending up in the hands of groups who promote radicalism.
Examples include:
· West Midlands Police indulging an extremist preacher in the hope that the promotion of his fundamentalist version of Islam might act as a safety valve for young men who might otherwise be attracted to terrorism.
· Tower Hamlets Council awarding a substantial grant to the Islamist pressure group, the Cordoba Foundation, which in turn offered a platform to Hizb-ut-Tahrir – an extremist group the Government considered banning after the 7/7 bombings.
· The Metropolitan Police selecting advisers with Islamist agendas - including one who supports the creation of a global Islamic theocracy, known as the Caliphate and is the subject of an Interpol ‘red notice’.
· Authorities in Lambeth engaging in Prevent activity in partnership with a hard-line Salafist from the Brixton Mosque in the belief that this constituted the best antidote to violent extremism.
To remedy the damage, Policy Exchange recommends a series of steps to recalibrate PVE including the setting out of new criteria for engagement which should be adopted across government and the public sector.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For further information please contact:
Amy Fisher, Director of Communications, Policy Exchange. 07799624594
Download publication available soon.
