Prevent counter-terror failures are leaving the public at threat, reviewer warns

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The public has been left at threat after the authorities ignored key suggestions from a counter-terror evaluate, the report’s creator has warned.

Sir William Shawcross mentioned ministers had not applied a few of his key suggestions for the authorities’s anti-radicalisation programme Prevent, whereas warning of an elevated threat in the UK resulting from the struggle in Gaza.

He mentioned the authorities ought to pay way more consideration to the Hamas assist community in the UK, particularly after the occasions of seven October.

His feedback come after ministers marked a yr since the publication of Sir William’s unbiased evaluate by declaring that that they had “brought Prevent back to its core mission”.

“The whole counter-terrorism system needs to continually evolve and adapt to the ever-changing threat from terrorism,” residence secretary James Cleverly mentioned in a progress report on Tuesday.

“Thanks to the work undertaken in response to [Sir William’s] review, we have a first-class Prevent programme that can play a central role in this effort.”

However Sir William insisted the “glass is still only half full”.

“The government has published a report saying that they have made some of those changes that I asked for, that I proposed – but not enough,” he instructed the BBC.

Sir William added ministers had “ignored” a few of his key suggestions “and I think as a result the public is at risk”.

He mentioned his issues have been heightened in mild of Hamas’ assaults on Israel, including: “There are unfortunately quite a lot of Hamas sympathisers and some operatives in this country.

“Prevent and the police should have been working much harder against those Hamas people in this country.

“The public is more at risk because of the events of October 7 and subsequently – and many, many people in this country are much more frightened than they have ever been before.”

Sir William present in his 2023 evaluate that the scheme had repeatedly “failed” to establish attackers – and there was a “sense of lost purpose” in the scheme.

The authorities claims thirty of the 34 suggestions made by Sir William have already been delivered, whereas “progress has been made against each of the remaining recommendations”.

A Home Office spokesperson mentioned: “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.”