The Independent Review of Prevent: Controversial, Contentious and Counter-productive

33 I n February this year, the findings from the independent review of the United Kingdom’s Prevent strategy were presented to the government, two and a half years later than expected. Prevent, part of the UK’s wider counter-terrorism strategy, aims to stop people being drawn into or supporting the extremist ideologies that underpin and justify terrorism. Led by Sir William Shawcross, the review put forward 34 recommendations to improve the delivery, impact and outcomes of Prevent. The review’s headline finding was that Prevent had lost its way in recent years, apparently because of being excessively focused on those vulnerable to extreme right-wing ideologies at the expense of those vulnerable to Islamist ideologies. Accordingly, the review recommended that Prevent be refocused. The government The Independent Review of Prevent: Controversial, Contentious and Counter-productive