I am a senior social worker. For several months, I sat on Channel panels, the end point of the UK government’s controversial de-radicalisation programme Prevent, within my local authority. I was uncomfortable from the outset, not only because of everything I had already heard about Prevent and Channel, but because of what I witnessed first-hand once I was inside the de-radicalisation process. What a Channel panel looks like A Channel panel is a large, formal meeting, usually involving around 10 to 15 people. This includes senior local authority staff, members of the Prevent team, Prevent engagement officers, and counter-terrorism police officers. Cases are discussed one by one. An intervention provider (IP) or engagement officer presents the individual, outlines what contact they have had with them, and explains what they see as the person’s “vulnerabilities”. The panel then decides whether the individual should remain on Channel and what kind of “support […]