SNP MP suggests Prevent could tackle anti-vax and Q-anon conspiracies

Following the publication of the Prevent review, SNP MP Kirsten Oswald has urged the Home Office to refocus the domestic programme to tackle anti-vaxxers and followers of the Q-anon conspiracy theory.

She told MPs: “We need to see this report in the context of the Met's head of counterterrorism pointing out that three in four advanced terror plots disrupted in 2021, actually involved right-wing extremists and 41 per cent of counterterrorism arrests in 2021 were of extreme right-wing suspects.”

Oswald continued: "It would be wrong and indeed damaging to stigmatise or marginalise Muslim communities, and that the risks posed by ideologies such as right-wing extremism, and antisemitism, as well as Islamic extremism, must all remain central to any UK counter-terror strategy.”

Addressing Home Secretary Suella Braverman, she added:

“I also wonder if she feels a shift in focus is needed to take into account more recent forms of extremism that have emerged since the report was commissioned, things like the QAnon ideology imported from the United States or incels or the anti-vax movement that sprung up during the pandemic.”

In the review, author William Shawcross criticised the Scottish Government for taking its own approach to the strategy, urging them to align more closely with how the system operates in England and Wales.

Read the Prevent Review

He said: "I am concerned about the lack of oversight and support for Prevent delivery in the Scottish education sector. The region does not have a dedicated HE/FE co-ordinator or Prevent education officer. For higher education institutions, there is no equivalent inspectorate to the Office for Students monitoring compliance. This comes despite serious concerns about the invitation of extremist speakers by Scottish university societies.

“This comes despite serious concerns about the invitation of extremist speakers by Scottish university Societies"

"I recommend that the Scottish Government look to restructure Prevent in line with the regionalisation model outlined for the wider UK in this report. This would include a dedicated Prevent lead, HE/FE regional co-ordinator and the commission of Prevent- funded projects that tackle the ideological causes of terrorism, not social cohesion and integration. Further, I recommend that Police Scotland develop regular and frequent local Prevent- specific risk assessments, akin to those developed across the UK (CLTPs), to enhance practitioners and officials’ understanding of the regional terrorism threat picture."