PREVENT

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CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "Shawcross has now disagreed publicly. The Home Office had, he said, ‘ignored’ key recommendations to beef up Prevent’s performance and the glass remained only ‘half full.’ I have some experience of bureaucratic sleight of hand at work when it comes to reviews and recommendations. When I was tasked by the Government to look into the Prison Service’s colossal and unforgivable failures in containing Islamist extremism a few years ago, I made 69 recommendations which were mysteriously repurposed into 11 without my consent; eight were finally accepted."

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February 23, 2024
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CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "My organisation, the Counter Extremism Project contributed a submission to the review, which delivered its analysis in February this year. Shawcross delivered a pretty devastating critique of the way we manage people reported to be at risk of being drawn into ideological violence. He said the strategy had lost focus on its core mission – to stop people getting into terrorism. Motivation was looked at through the lens of vulnerability, not agency. Double standards applied to the interpretation of Islamist and extreme right wing ideologies, the former being tightly prescribed, the latter on a mission creep that threatened to stifle legitimate political discourse."

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September 14, 2023
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Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Maintaining Momentum: The Prevent Review and Future Threats

On May 17, CEP hosted an insightful event to discuss the future of the UK Prevent Review, its implementation, and the challenge of combatting terrorism in a liberal democracy. The Prevent Review is a comprehensive assessment of a key strand of the UK's counter-terrorism to stop people becoming violent extremists. This event brought together subject experts to examine the evolving landscape of the terror threat and explore new ways to enhance the effectiveness of the Prevent strategy in addressing ideologically motivated offending. Our aim is to keep the Independent Review of Prevent in the conversation and to constantly assess and reassess its recommendations against future threats and challenges.

Panelists: 

  • Liam Duffy, Strategic Advisor for the Counter Extremism Project
  • Ian Acheson, Senior Advisor for the Counter Extremism Project
  • Sir John Jenkins, Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange
  • Dr. Julia Rushchenko, Consultant at the United Nations/International Organisation for Migration

Moderator: Lucinda Creighton, Senior Advisor for the Counter Extremism Project

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CEP Strategic Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "With each new blasphemy controversy in the West, from The Satanic Verses to Charlie Hebdo, the corrosive effect on free expression worsens. In Wakefield, we see just how low the bar for blasphemy allegations has fallen, and how readily complaints are legitimised by our own institutions."

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February 28, 2023
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CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "Shawcross found a prevalence of ‘extreme antisemitism’ in the Channel cases he dip sampled. What’s striking is that antisemitism is an equal opportunities hatred. It is mobilised by extreme left, right and Islamist ideologues and their followers. Perhaps this explains a pre-eminence of obsessive, ‘fanatical’ violent hatred towards Jews in the cases he examined – behaviour that included the professed desire to murder and bomb Jews and the burning of synagogues."

Date
February 14, 2023
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CEP Strategic Advisor Liam Duffy writes: "In his independent review of Prevent, published last week, William Shawcross came to the same conclusion: the overemphasis on vulnerability in the process of radicalisation strips individuals of their agency, obscures reality and sucks the politics out of political violence."

Date
February 14, 2023
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"Research by the Counter Extremism Project found that police sources had been told that the Abedis had to have known that Hashem and Salman were becoming more radical. After the attack, a mutual friend said the pair had discussed and expressed support for Isis."

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February 13, 2023
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Daily Dose

Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.

Fact:

On May 8, 2019, Taliban insurgents detonated an explosive-laden vehicle and then broke into American NGO Counterpart International’s offices in Kabul. At least seven people were killed and 24 were injured.

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