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Britain's Prevent anti-extremism scheme is "very ineffective" in dealing with political extremism and young people fixated on violence, former attorney general Dominic Grieve said Tuesday. The assessment came as a three-year independent review concluded the programme requires a "radical overhaul" to address record-high referral numbers.
Grieve, speaking at the launch of the Independent Commission on UK Counter-Terrorism Law's report in London, criticized the programme's broad approach. «There are people with extreme views who are not terrorists, and part of the problem is that I don't think they're tackling that issue correctly,» he said. He added: «It is very ineffective in dealing with political extremism, and it is very ineffective in dealing with young people who don't have ideologies and have become fixated on violence.»
Referrals to Prevent surged 27 percent in 2024/25 to 8,778 cases, up from 6,922 the previous year. The first quarter of 2025 alone saw 3,287 referrals – the highest number in a single quarter since records began. The spike comes as terror threats have shifted from organized groups like al-Qaeda to self-initiated individuals with unclear or unstable ideologies.
Commission's Key Findings
Commission chairman Sir Declan Morgan KC, former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, said «The evidence we had shows that the present approach to Prevent is not fit for purpose.» The commission recommended Prevent should focus on "those who pose a significant risk to public safety through potential terrorist activities, rather than those who express ideas judged to be extreme, albeit lawfully."
The review criticized Britain's official terrorism definition as too broad, extending beyond violence or serious threats and causing legal uncertainty. The commission made 113 recommendations, including restricting counter-terrorism laws to actual public safety threats, requiring terror group bans to lapse after five years unless renewed, and publishing a new national social cohesion strategy. Officials are reportedly engaging "positively" with the findings and considering adopting some recommendations.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
