Suspected British jihadists returning from Syria will be forced to attend classes confronting their “warped” outlook, David Cameron has declared.
The prime minister revealed the measure as he warned that the battle against Islamic extremism was the defining fight of the 21st century. It comes as part of a long-awaited government plan for tackling the growing threat of home-grown terrorism.
In an article for The Times, Mr Cameron said that Britain must tackle extremist ideas “at the kitchen table, on the university campus, online and on the airwaves”.
“For those who have been sucked furthest into the extremist world view, our strategy also includes new proposals for intensive — and mandatory — de-radicalisation programmes,” he writes.
“That means attendance at programmes can be made a condition of a licence for terrorist offenders after their release from prison, or part of a court order against a suspected terrorist.” The deradicalisation programme is among the measures listed in the government’s counterextremism strategy, which is due to be announced today. It also includes:
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The removal of passports from older teenagers suspected of planning to join terrorist groups abroad.
A pledge to tackle housing segregation that “can allow extremist narratives to take root”.
The placing of extremists on a register that replicates the vetting regime used by authorities to check if a person has been convicted of child sex abuse.
A Downing Street official said that the last measure would ensure that they were “automatically banned from working with children... in the same way as individuals convicted of sexual offences against children”.
Radical preachers are also expected to be banned from posting material online, while internet companies will be asked to help to stop extremist material being disseminated.
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The prime minister is also expected to signal that he wants to return to the “snooper’s charter”, handing the intelligence services greater powers to monitor the digital communications of suspected terrorists. The plan was vetoed by the Liberal Democrats under the coalition government.
Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, again pushed the case for Britain to take part in airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. He said there was now an “inescapable logic” to extending British military action beyond Iraq.
More than 700 Britons are understood to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join Isis and other jihadist groups, while about half are believed to have returned home. A record 338 people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences in 2014-15, an increase of a third on the previous year.
Mr Cameron states that it is crucial for “far more” moderate Muslims to come forward and help the fight against extremist interpretations of Islam. This year a further £5 million is to be handed to community groups attempting to take on extremist ideologies.