A cycling advocacy group has appeared alongside Nazi iconography and proscribed groups in a compilation of signs and symbols put together by counter-terror policing. Critical Mass, a cycle safety and advocacy group which originated from San Francisco, campaigns for local and national authorities to support green forms of transport and develop cycling-friendly infrastructure. However it was one of a number of organisations ot have their logo listed in a collection of “Left-Wing and Associated Single Issue Groups” compiled by counter terror policing in a document first reported on by the Guardian. Source: Cycling advocacy group listed alongside extremist groups on counter-terror list | The Independent

A Home Office-funded study into tackling radicalisation among young people has concluded that the approach being pushed through by the home secretary, Priti Patel, is so flawed that it is “madness”.Instead the research, which will be unveiled on Wednesday and is described as one of the biggest scientific surveys of its type in Europe, found that the most effective strategy was precisely the opposite approach pursued by Patel. Generating “positive psychology” among young people was found to be significantly more effective than punitive policies when challenging “violent youth radicalisation”, defined as gang crime through to the development of extreme ideologies. Source: Priti Patel’s plan to tackle radicalised youth is so flawed it’s mad, says study | Politics | The Guardian

Peaceful protest groups listed in a counter-terrorism guide used as part of anti-extremism briefings are threatening legal action unless it is withdrawn.The Guardian revealed on Friday that Greenpeace, Peta and other non-violent groups were listed alongside neo-Nazis in the document used as part of training for Prevent, the anti-radicalisation scheme designed to catch those at risk of committing terrorist violence.The guide, from June 2019, bears the logo “Counter Terrorism Policing” on every page, and was presented in briefings to public sector workers such as medical staff and teachers. Police said the document was provided to Prevent partners as “a guide to help them identify and understand the range of organisations they might come across”. Source: Non-violent groups on UK counter-terror list threaten legal action | Environment | The Guardian

​Prevent fostered racism before police labelled Extinction Rebellion as extremists. Prevent is the UK government’s programme to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It has hit the headlines many times since its 2003 inception, and did so again in January when The Guardian revealed that police in South East England had listed Extinction Rebellion (XR) among ‘extremist’ ideologies, placing it alongside the far-right National Action and Islamic State affiliate Al-Muhajiroun. Campaign Against Arms Trade and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which both have strong Quaker links, have also been listed in police counter-terrorism guides, expanding the definition of extremism to nonviolent protest. That’s alarming for democracy, but as an attempt to tackle so-called ‘violent extremism’, Prevent had already proved to be impossible to implement without ill-informed bias, Islamophobia and racism. Source: What’s wrong with Prevent? | Quakers in Britain

Conservative party pledges to review counter-terrorism strategy facing renewed criticism from Muslim community The British government said it will continue its review of the controversial Prevent strategy amid concerns by rights groups that the Conservative Party was planning to scrap its report into the counter-terrorism scheme. Prevent is a strand of the British government’s counter-terrorism strategy that aims at stopping people from becoming terrorists. Since it was set up in 2006, it has faced renewed criticism that it discriminates against Muslims, stifles free speech in schools and universities and amounts to a mass surveillance programme.   Source: UK: Prevent review ‘will go ahead’ following concerns by rights groups | Middle East Eye

The government’s adviser on terror legislation has warned that there is “no magic test” to determine the risks posed by a terrorist on release from prison, in further criticism of recently announced proposals to examine them with lie detectors.Jonathan Hall QC said in a speech that it was “impossible to guard against all risks” of violent reoffending and that any system which handed over release decisions to “risk experts” using polygraphs or any other method would be unacceptable.Speaking to the Henry Jackson Society, the legal expert said that “there is no magic test for risk at the point of release” and said that terror sentencing decisions made by trial judges should not be minimised in favour of alternatives. Source: Government terror adviser warns ‘no magic test’ to stop reoffending | UK news | The Guardian

Letters: Campaign groups including CND and Greenpeace UK call for the rescinding of an anti-extremism briefing document in which they were named, while Joe Sim says branding activism as subversive is nothing new. Plus, letters from Andrew Gold and Lisa Battye Source: Counter-terrorism policy is a threat to democracy | Letters | Politics | The Guardian

Serious violent and sexual offenders will no longer automatically be released halfway through their sentences under government plans introduced on Wednesday.A greater focus has been placed on automatic release since last November’s London Bridge attack, which was carried out by a convicted terrorist out on licence.Justice secretary Robert Buckland was forced on Tuesday to deny the government was politicising the atrocity by proposing measures that place a greater focus on lengthy jail terms than on other approaches. Source: Early release to be scrapped for violent and sexual offenders | Politics | The Guardian

Britain’s controversial surveillance/counter-extremism Prevent programme has come under fire once more, this time from over 100 academics, researchers, and campaigners calling on the government to radically overhaul its approach to tackling politically motivated violence.The Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol), sociology professor David Miller, rapper Lowkey, and criminology expert Dr Rizwaan Sabir are among 113 groups and individuals who signed an open letter describing Prevent as a “failed policy that must be abolished and firmly uprooted from society”.Middle East Eye published the open letter on 17 January. It argues that the ‘science‘ behind the Prevent programme has been “roundly debunked” by experts. According to the ‘Prevent duty’, all publicly funded bodies, including nurseries, prisons, universities, and local councils, must have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. Source: Prevent programme must be abolished in order to tackle politically motivated violence, say experts | The Canary