Ministers have bowed to pressure and announced an independent review into the government’s anti-radicalisation strategy. Revealing the move, Ben Wallace, the security minister, accused critics of the Prevent programme of using “distortion and spin” and called on them to produce evidence for their allegations. Civil liberties and human rights organisations have claimed that Prevent discriminates against Muslims. Read more

The government’s anti-radicalisation Prevent strategy is to be independently reviewed after ministers gave into longstanding pressure to address concerns over its impact on communities. The security minister, Ben Wallace, announced the review in the House of Commons but threw down the gauntlet to critics of the strategy to produce “solid evidence of their allegations”, accusing them of using “distortion and spin”. The move was announced after the government accepted an amendment to the counter-terrorism and border security bill passing through parliament. Read more