Record numbers of over-60s are being referred to the Government’s troubled anti-terrorism scheme, as the definition of ‘far-Right’ is stretched to breaking point. The Mail has more.
Home Office figures show 127 adults in their 60s or beyond were put on Prevent’s radar in 2023/24 – the most since records began in 2016.
Of them, 43 had sparked alarm for expressing ‘extreme RExtreme right wing ideologies ‘can be broadly characterised as cultural nationalism, white nationalism and white supremacism’, officials say. Guidance published online states they also use violence to further their aims.
Yet free speech campaigners fear that anyone critical of mass immigration might be being wrongly labelled an ‘extremist’.
Last month, it was revealed how Prevent training documents listed sharing the view that Western culture was “under threat from mass migration and a lack of integration” was a “terrorist ideology”.
And in 2023, it emerged that popular British sitcoms, including comedies Yes Minister and The Thick Of It, were marked as ‘key texts’ for white nationalists, ‘Right wing’ views.
Even the 1955 epic war film The Dambusters and The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare were flagged as possible red flags of extremism by Prevent’s Research Information and Communications Unit.
Across all age groups, more than 1,300 people were referred to Prevent last year for ‘extreme Right wing’ behaviour, including 27 kids under the age of 10.
While ‘extreme Right wing’ referrals have been stable since records began in 2016, the reports for over-60s in all categories has more than doubled – rising from 59 in 2016, to 127 in 2023.
Over the same period, the overall number of referrals under the Islamist umbrella has plunged by 75%, from 3,706 to 913 – or 13% of the total.
Islamist terrorism relates to “the threat or use of violence as a means to establish a strict interpretation of an Islamic society”.
A damning public report warned in 2023 that Prevent had been experiencing a “loss of focus” as it had become distracted by far-Right cases, rather than concentrating on Islamists.
In his long-awaited 188-page report, William Shawcross claimed too many resources were being focused on Right-wing terrorism rather than its Islamist equivalent, which has been responsible for far more deadly attacks.
Since 2015, the law has placed public bodies, such as schools and the police, under a legal duty to identify people in danger of turning to extremism.
But the £49 million-a-year Prevent scheme has faced huge criticism over its failures in spotting Islamist terror sympathisers, including those with links to notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary.
Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana was also missed, despite being referred to the deradicalisation body three times before he went on to knife three children to death in July 2024.
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