Preventing terrorism starts at home

Our Prevent strategy has had some success, but it has not been as effective as it could be.  That is why we are reviewing it and making improvements. In particular, Prevent lost focus by trying to do too many things. A mixed bag of projects aimed at increasing “resilience” against terrorism in Muslim communities and addressing grievances, led to Prevent spending large sums of money with little real impact on the desired objective. Confusion and suspicion about Prevent’s purpose has been the result.  We need a more focussed and more effective Prevent strategy. 

But by itself Prevent will not be a silver bullet. It must work within the framework of a strong, integrated society, which it is also our task to build. In a speech in February, the Prime Minister set out a vision for British society in which extremist ideologies are challenged through the active promotion of a shared national identity, rooted in our longstanding values of freedom and democracy. The state multiculturalism which led to the separation of communities must be replaced by policies which unite us as a society.

Today, I am at a Council on Foreign Relations conference in Washington to outline the new direction for Prevent in the U.K. The strategy will concentrate on three aspects: challenging extremist ideologies and the ideologues who promote them; supporting institutions where radicalization may occur; and protecting individuals who may be vulnerable to radicalization. Let me explain why we are focusing on these three areas.

People come to support terrorism and to engage in terrorist-related activities in part because they accept and are inspired by the ideology of terrorism. Challenging that ideology, both domestically and abroad, is therefore essential.

It means identifying and challenging the individuals who peddle the message and rebutting their words of hate. It means understanding the networks they operate in and knowing about the finances that underpin them. It means prosecuting those who break the law and, in the case of foreigners, excluding them from the U.K. where we judge it in the public interest to do so. 

There is also a specific need to challenge ideology on the Internet which provides extremists and men of violence with a powerful tool to amplify their voice. In our view, not just government but ordinary users as well should be active in insisting that harmful content is removed and, where it persists, challenging it. As in the U.S., we in the U.K. will vigorously protect people’s rights to free speech, but we need to recognise that preserving free speech involves standing up actively for the values on which it depends.

In institutions such as universities, it is especially important not to allow extremist ideologies to go uncontested and to bring a confident and vigorous challenge to bear on the ideologues. This is a task for universities themselves. In prisons, government must take action to help stem radicalization. In mosques, responsibility falls to Muslim communities. It is clear that without the active support of British Muslims, the vast majority of whom want nothing to do with terrorism, we will not succeed in our objective of ridding our land of this scourge.

Finally, our new Prevent strategy will protect individuals vulnerable to radicalization.  We will continue to put in place tailored packages of support for those people who are at risk of being influenced by terrorist ideology. We will also step up efforts to raise awareness amongst local service providers of the signs of radicalization – people like teachers, nurses and community police officers – and to inform them about the support measures available. 

Prevent is an integral part of delivering the first duty of government: protecting our citizens and defending their freedom. The British government is committed to doing what is necessary to fulfill that duty.

Baroness Pauline Neville Jones is the U.K. minister of state responsible for security and counter-terrorism.