Prevent review leaks: Strategy "too focused on rightwing extremism"

According to the Guardian, leaked draft extracts of the long awaited Prevent review say it has been "too focused on rightwing extremism" and should now "crack down on Islamist extremism".

This comes despite the number of referrals to Prevent relating to far-right extremism exceeding those for Islamist radicalisation for the first time last year.

The review, carried out by former Charity Commission chair Sir William Shawcross, also said Prevent was "carrying the weight" for overstretched mental health services.

According to the Guardian, the draft Shawcross review also claims that some Prevent-funded groups have promoted extremist narratives - including support for the Taliban.

In January 2021, the selection of Shawcross to conduct the review, which was delivered to the Home Office at the end of April, came under scrutiny.

In 2012, as a director of 'thinktank' the Henry Jackson Society, he said: “Europe and Islam is one of the greatest, most terrifying problems of our future. I think all European countries have vastly, very quickly growing Islamic populations.”

Supporters of the strategy say statistics prove that it does not target one community in particular and has successfully diverted vulnerable individuals from being radicalised and becoming terrorists.

A Home Office spokesman told the Guardian:

"The report is currently being finalised and once formally received and after full consideration, the report and the government’s response to it will be published.”