Community

Two-thirds of children referred to Prevent by schools and colleges were returned to education settings – and in almost all of these the cases (93 per cent) the children received no support from Prevent. The Children’s Commissioner’s latest report draws on new data, interviews with professionals and new analysis of official figures to reveal the journeys taken by children in the government’s counter extremism programme. The study describes a system with a great deal of worry about children, seeking somewhere for them to get help, or someone to hold responsibility for them, and not finding it. Dame Rachel de Souza recommends that children currently sent to Prevent should be assessed through local safeguarding teams – which should include Counter Terrorism Policing – and directed to the right support. Read more on The Children’s Commissioner’s website. Related… Babies and Muslims lost in a flood of Home Office statistics on Prevent strategy

Professor Paul Thomas, an expert on the Prevent strategy at the University of Huddersfield, has given evidence before the Australian Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. Drawing on the UK experience, the professor argued that Australia could benefit from similar approaches to practitioner training and community reporting, while recognising the challenges of implementing a consistent system across a federal structure. Professor Thomas commented: “In my evidence session with the Royal Commission I was able to share the findings from our groundbreaking international research around community members reporting possible terrorism involvement by people known to them, as well as our important national research around how British educators are implementing the Prevent counter-terrorism duty.” Read more on The University of Huddersfield website. Related… After 16-year-old austistic boy is shot by police, experts call for shift in Australia CVE programmes

Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, calls for a range of curbs to be introduced amid concerns over a ‘fascination’ with violence and extremism on social media. Read full article at The Times (paywall) Related…  The Guardian: AI-generated British schoolgirl Amelia is now a far-right social media star  

Our new Prime Minister is desperate to present himself as an ordinary, football-watching, pint-sinking bloke. He even took to Instagram to tell us he calls a bread roll a “barm”, writes Arthur Reynolds for The Critic. No matter how patronising I find this latter-day Bill Shankly routine, if the polls are to be believed, it’s tempting some wavering voters back into the Labour fold. However, the working-class communities Burnham’s targeting may baulk at the company he’s kept. As Mayor of Greater Manchester and in opposition, he repeatedly embraced figures and organisations that, at best, promoted a polarising politics of Muslim victimhood. Read more on The Critic. Related… The Guardian: Burnham calls for ‘toxic’ Prevent strategy to be scrapped

Referrals to the government’s terrorism prevention programme hit a record high last year – with concerns about extreme right-wing ideology accounting for a fifth of Prevent cases. Latest data showed a huge 39% jump in overall referrals to Prevent, with concerns raised about nearly 10,000 people in the 12 months to September 2025. This was up from 7,279 a year earlier. And alarmingly more than a third related to children aged between 11 and 15. Home Office figures showed 20% of all referrals were in relation to ‘extreme right-wing’ ideologies – more than double those linked to alleged Islamic extremism. The data shows 56% of cases had no fixed ideology attached, while more than 400 were flagged because of a ‘fascination with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks’. Read more on The Mirror.  Related… Press Statement: Home Office Prevent statistics show that a record year is a record failure

Prevent Watch responds to Home Office Prevent statistics published today. Home Office figures released today show a record 10,293 Prevent referrals — yet the majority of those referred had no ideology of any kind, and most cases were closed without any action. More than half of those referred were children, some of primary school age, and a striking proportion were autistic or living with mental ill-health. The programme has been turned inside out. The threat Prevent was built around — so-called ‘Islamist extremism’ — now barely features in its own caseload, while the largest group of people it processes fit no ideological category at all. Dr Layla Aitlhadj, Director, Prevent Watch, said: “These record numbers are a record failure — but instead of admitting it, the Government has relabelled these cases as ‘complex’, turning the programme’s failure into the justification for its expansion.” “Record referrals are proof the programme has […]