The UK's flagship counter-terrorism strategy, Prevent, is failing in its core mission to keep the country safe and requires a fundamental transformation, a major independent report has concluded.
A System No Longer Fit for Purpose
The Independent Commission on Counter-Terrorism delivered a stark verdict after a comprehensive three-year review. The commission found that the present approach to Prevent is not fit for purpose, with its chairman, Sir Declan Morgan, the former chief justice of Northern Ireland, stating the evidence clearly supports this conclusion.
The report highlights a critical flaw: 90% of the 58,000 people referred to Prevent since 2015 were turned away because they displayed no fixed ideology. This has proven to be a dangerous oversight, as many of these individuals still possess the potential to commit violent acts.
A harrowing case cited is that of Axel Rudakubana, the Southport murderer. Rudakubana was referred to Prevent on three separate occasions, but his case was closed in 2021 after no clear extremist ideology was identified. Three years later, he stabbed three girls to death and attacked ten others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
The Evolving Nature of the Terror Threat
The commission's investigation revealed that the nature of terrorism in the UK has fundamentally shifted. The threat is no longer dominated by organised groups like al Qaeda, but by self-initiated individuals with mixed, unclear, or unstable ideologies.
This change has led to a surge in referrals, which now risk overwhelming the system. Alarmingly, the majority of those referred are children and young people, a demographic that makes up only 21% of the population. The report warns that the current model, based on a flawed understanding of radicalisation, is ill-equipped to handle this new reality.
Recommendations for a Safer Future
To address these systemic failures, the commission has proposed a series of radical changes. The central recommendation is to integrate Prevent into a wider system with a single access point for all individuals susceptible to being drawn into violence.
This new framework would allow for more appropriate triage, with those at risk of terrorist violence being passed to Prevent, while others would be directed to different support agencies.
Furthermore, the commission has called for a narrower, more focused statutory definition of terrorism. This new definition would specify acts intended to coerce or subvert government and would raise the threshold for property damage to only include conduct that poses a serious risk to life, national security, or public safety.
The commission also recommended that government decisions to ban organisations be reviewed every five years to ensure proportionality, a suggestion that comes as the Home Office faces a legal challenge over its proscription of Palestine Action.
The full details of the report were unveiled at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, marking a pivotal moment for UK national security policy.
