Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministerial Statement

Prevent: Independent Review

07 September 2023 · 12 other contributors

Opened by Suella Braverman Reform Fareham and Waterlooville

Crime & Law EnforcementStandards & Ethics

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Suella Braverman raised concerns about prevent: independent review in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.

Key points

  • The terrorist threat to the UK is unrelenting, with Contest aiming to prevent involvement in terrorism by tackling radicalising ideologies.
  • Minister Suella Braverman announced significant reforms following an independent review of Prevent, focusing on enhancing ideological understanding and ensuring proportionality.
  • The minister highlighted the completion of 10 out of 34 recommendations and 68 out of 120 tasks.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Government Statement

Suella Braverman

The terrorist threat to the UK is unrelenting, with Contest, the counter-terrorism strategy, aiming to prevent people from becoming involved in terrorism by tackling radicalising ideologies. Minister Suella Braverman announced significant reforms following an independent review of Prevent, focusing on enhancing ideological understanding and ensuring proportionality in extremism identification. The minister highlighted the completion of 10 out of 34 recommendations and 68 out of 120 tasks from the review, planning to complete at least 29 by a year after publication. New training and guidance have been introduced, emphasising ideology's role and strengthening local authority support. Prevent will not fund extremist groups like CAGE or MEND and will address antisemitism more effectively through new interventions. The minister also outlined the establishment of an independent oversight unit to process complaints.

Other contributors (12)
  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Question

    The Member of Parliament asked about the funding for the Prevent duty guidance and how it was decided, mentioning the need to involve local authorities in this process. He also inquired about how public confidence would be maintained throughout these reforms.

    Minister reply

    The Home Secretary stated that the Prevent programme is funded through a range of sources and that local authorities play a crucial role in its implementation. She confirmed that engagement with local partners has been ongoing, ensuring their views are considered in the guidance revisions.

  • Chris Philp Con Croydon South

    Question

    The MP questioned the Home Secretary about the extent of the government’s research into artificial intelligence and online extremism.

    Minister reply

    The Minister confirmed that work on addressing AI-related threats is ongoing, with efforts to understand the nature of these risks and develop appropriate responses.

  • Kerry McCarthy Lab Bristol East

    Question

    The Member of Parliament inquired about the effectiveness of Prevent in tackling far-right extremism compared to Islamist extremism.

    Minister reply

    The Home Secretary highlighted that Prevent addresses both Islamist and far-right extremism, stressing the importance of ideological understanding in countering these threats effectively.

  • Diana Johnson Lab Kingston upon Hull North

    Question

    The MP raised concerns about staff shortages in prisons affecting deradicalisation efforts.

    Minister reply

    The Home Secretary acknowledged the importance of prison staff training and deradicalisation programmes, noting that steps are being taken to improve these areas despite resource constraints.

  • Yvette Cooper Lab Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley

    Question

    Asked about the lack of discussion on Prevent in prisons and deradicalisation measures. Raised concerns over staffing issues within prison systems leading to delays in training and an increase in radicalised prisoners upon release. Highlighted the issue of online radicalisation and generative AI posing new challenges for preventing extremism.

    Minister reply

    Responded by acknowledging the threat posed by terrorism within prisons, highlighting progress on rolling out better training for prison officers through a new terrorism risk behaviour profile. Addressed concerns over resources, noting high funding levels but redirection to address evolving threats more effectively.

  • Mike Penning

    Question

    Welcomed the Home Secretary's update and stressed that Prevent must be about national security without fear of infringing on freedom of speech or appeasing minority groups.

    Minister reply

    Agreed with Mike Penning, emphasising that Prevent professionals must work in the interest of national security first and foremost, without fear or favour.

  • Patricia Gibson Lab North East Scotland

    Question

    The Shawcross review has found that the Prevent strategy has failed and lost its way. The very system that aimed to identify would-be terrorists has allegedly funded a group whose head was sympathetic to the Taliban. That failure is why the Home Secretary is coming to the House today to make a statement. I am sure she will agree that public confidence in the Prevent strategy has been shaken to its foundations. We know that those previously referred to Prevent went on to commit terrorist acts and that the terrorist threat across the UK remains substantial, which means that an attack is likely. What long-term work is being done to monitor those who leave prison after serving sentences to ensure that they do not remain a threat to our communities and national security? Islamist terrorism is the primary terrorist threat, but it is not the only one. The fact that the Wagner group is to be declared a terrorist organisation has to be welcomed, but there must be ongoing concern and vigilance in respect of extreme and far right incel movements. Questions about how to tackle online radicalisation remain. Will the Home Secretary assure us that there will be full co-operation with the devolved nations as we seek to tackle the scourge of terrorism? What guarantees will she provide that Prevent will have the necessary budget and resources to fulfil its central aim and mission of preventing terrorism across the UK? Finally, the Home Secretary talked about better training for prison officers, but staffing crises in our prisons are rife. Training is all well and good, but it is important that the prison estate has the proper manpower levels to play its part in deradicalising and rehabilitating those who have been convicted of terrorist offences, so that when they are released they can go back to their communities without causing alarm. What action is she taking to address the staffing crisis in our prisons, as part of this strategy?

    Minister reply

    The hon. Lady talked about historical Home Office funding of groups linked with extremism, an issue identified by Sir William in his landmark report. I was appalled when I read that Prevent had historically funded groups that have legitimised extremism or has worked with groups whose values totally contradict our own. That is not a proper use of public money, it undermines Prevent’s objectives and it is potentially a threat to national security. I will ensure that that never happens again. As a result of that issue identified in the report, we are running a full-scale audit of all counter-extremism funding arrangements and we will immediately terminate all agreements that fall below our standards. We are working closely with the Commission for Countering Extremism to ensure that we strengthen our oversight and vetting procedures to ensure that taxpayers’ money always goes to the right groups.

  • Scott Benton Con Weaver Vale

    Question

    I welcome the Home Secretary’s statement and her strong leadership on this issue. The additional measures taken by the Ministry of Justice earlier this year to crack down on the activities of terrorist prisoners were very welcome. Is she able to provide an update on any assessments the Home Office, in conjunction with the MOJ, has completed on the success of those measures so far?

    Minister reply

    The Prevent duty applies to those working in the prison estate. Sir William identified a particular concern relating to the threat of radicalism and terrorism occurring and evolving within the prison estate, which is why he made a recommendation. I am pleased that we have made significant progress on rolling out the terrorism risks behaviour profile, which will now enable prison officers to have better training so that they can better spot, and are more confident and knowledgeable about, the signs of radicalisation, extremism and terrorism within the prison estate and are thereafter empowered to take steps to mitigate and eliminate that risk.

  • Diana R. Johnson Lab Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham

    Question

    In ensuring that Prevent is fit for purpose, the Home Affairs Committee looked at the Prevent review and we were concerned about the under-representation of the Islamist threat in Prevent referrals when compared with right-wing extremism referrals. Some 22% of the 4,915 referrals related to Islamist radicalisation and 25% related to right-wing extremism. However, 75% of those who ended up on remand for terrorist offences were categorised as Islamist and 22% were categorised as extreme right-wing. When the Security Minister appeared before our Committee, he said that the Government needed to look at the reasons for that, and that they were going to look at the misallocation and seek to make sure there was better representation of the actual threat. Will the Home Secretary therefore set out what work has been done to ensure that we have that proper representation in those initial Prevent referrals?

    Minister reply

    We saw exactly that incongruity and disparity between the intelligence picture and the security threat picture, and what was happening on the ground among the Prevent community in the referrals that they were making. That is a problem, which is why today marks an important step forward in rectifying that erroneous approach. The new statutory guidance will focus increasingly on ideological causes of terrorism, and there will be much more stringency and robustness in looking more rigorously at the ideology behind extremism. Importantly, we are also adopting Sir William’s recommendation of including the security threat check, which consists of specialist questions that are directly informed by the intelligence and Home Office analysis of the security and counter-terrorism picture. That will form a series of principles that will help to ensure that Prevent referrals on the ground properly reflect the threat picture.

  • Andrew Gwynne Ind Gorton and Denton

    Question

    Coming from Greater Manchester, I know tragically what the end result of Islamist indoctrination can be for a community, so I welcome very much the re-emphasis on tackling Islamist indoctrination. In the Home Secretary’s reset of the Prevent system, will she explain to the House how she is going to take local communities with her? She knows that one criticism of the Prevent system as it stands is that it also stigmatises whole communities, not just those who are extremists. What confidence is she going to give to diverse communities across the UK?

    Minister reply

    It is not right to say that Prevent is anti-Muslim. Prevent is about ensuring that Islamism, extremism, radicalisation and violent ideology about hatred, evil and values totally at odds with ours are stamped out. The vast majority of British Muslims make a valuable contribution to the UK, but we must be courageous in calling out permissive environments and tolerance for extremism among some parts of our community. That requires a fearless approach, one that is not cowed by political correctness or fear of upsetting particular groups in the name of community cohesion. If we want to save lives, we need to take a united approach, but a robust and fearless one to calling out Islamism when we see it.

  • Jim Shannon DUP Strangford

    Question

    I thank the Home Secretary for her statement, and for the strength of character and delivery of purpose as well. She referred to discussions about possible support for Scotland. She is right to be strong on radicalisation. Steps have been taken to combat that in Northern Ireland, where the rewriting of history is leading to the glorifying of terrorism for a new generation—that must be combatted. Will she confirm the effectiveness of Prevent in all areas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

    Minister reply

    As I mentioned when we refreshed our Contest strategy, we are seeing a concerning level of terrorism related to Northern Ireland. That is a very sorry reflection of unacceptable behaviour, which must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Our agencies work UK-wide and we are always working closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other authorities at the local level, to ensure that all leads are followed in the fullest possible way and measures are put in place to mitigate risks as they emerge. However, as we saw earlier this year, that threat is a concern and we must remain vigilant to it.

Shadow Comment

Yvette Cooper

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper praised the Prevent programme but criticised the lack of reference to prison security issues in the minister's statement. She highlighted concerns about prisoner deradicalisation efforts being hampered by staffing shortages and raised questions about how prisoners are handled before release, especially concerning those with terrorist convictions. Cooper also questioned the government's approach to online radicalisation and generative AI threats, calling for tighter legal measures against misuse of these technologies. She urged the government to update its countering extremism strategy and emphasised the importance of earlier intervention.

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