This article is the subject of a legal complaint from MEND
Islamist groups in Britain are undermining the fight against terrorism by peddling “myths” about the government’s key anti-radicalisation policy, according to the country’s most prominent Muslim lawyer.
Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor, warned that an “industry” of Muslim groups was spreading misinformation about the Prevent strategy.
Mr Afzal, who prosecuted the Rochdale sex-grooming gang, also condemned “self-appointed” community leaders whose sole agenda was to present Muslims “as victims and not as those who are potentially becoming radicals”.
He singled out the Islamist-dominated Muslim Council of Britain, saying he was staggered that in the agenda for its annual general meeting last year there was “nothing about radicalisation and nothing about the threat of people going to Syria”.
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“We all have a responsibility to stand up for British values and the rule of law. They always come to the party reluctantly, rather than routinely doing so because it’s the right thing,” he said in an interview with The Times.
Organisations blamed by Mr Afzal for distorting the truth about counter-radicalisation included Cage, the Islamist advocacy group, and Prevent Watch, a “community-based initiative” that supports “communities impacted by Prevent”.
Those seeking to sow distrust of the scheme, which was set up by the Labour government in 2003 and has an estimated annual budget of £40 million, included “Islamists who don’t like anything that’s state-sponsored”, he added.
Mr Afzal, 54, resigned last week as chief executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, which attempted to ban him from speaking publicly after the Manchester bombing. “Nobody else was talking publicly about Prevent [and] deradicalisation,” he said of his decision to appear on the BBC’s Question Time, in defiance of his employer.
The Prevent policy, which seeks to identify people at risk of radicalisation and guide them away from extremist behaviour, has been criticised as intrusive by sections of the Muslim community and Labour politicians.
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More than 8,000 people have been referred for possible inclusion in the scheme, many by councils, schools and other public bodies. Its work was strongly defended by Mr Afzal, an expert on deradicalisation who has brought successful prosecutions for terrorism offences.
“It’s stopped at least 150 people from going to Syria, 50 of them children,” he said. “It’s grassroots — it’s not about criminalising and it has an impact but it’s constantly undermined by myths that urgently need to be challenged.”
Mr Afzal, who was chief crown prosecutor for the northwest from 2011-15, said that untruths about Prevent had gained currency because of politicians’ failure to communicate its “phenomenally good work” in protecting children from extremism. “Despite the resources the state has, it’s not able to battle the counternarrative produced by this industry that wants to undermine it,” he said.
In his first interview since his resignation was made public, he welcomed Theresa May’s plan for a commission to counter extremism. “That part of the Tories’ manifesto draws a link between radicalisation and violence against women and girls,” he said. “To my mind, the way you identify radicals is by their attitude to women and girls.”
The Conservative manifesto did not refer to Prevent but Amber Rudd, the home secretary, has said that a re-elected Tory government would increase Prevent’s funding. In their election manifestos, the Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping the scheme; Labour has pledged to review “its potential to alienate minority communities”.
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Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, has labelled the Prevent brand “toxic”.
