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| Number of suspected far-right extremists referred to Government’s Prevent programme increases by more than a quarter, figures show | Number of suspected far-right extremists referred to Government’s Prevent programme increases by more than a quarter, figures show |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The number of suspected far-right extremists referred to the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme has increased by more than a quarter, new figures show. | The number of suspected far-right extremists referred to the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme has increased by more than a quarter, new figures show. |
| Of the total 6,093 people referred in the year to March 2017, 61 per cent (3,704) had raised concern about Islamist extremism and 16 per cent (943) over far-right extremism. | |
| More than 1,600 children under the age of 15 were flagged as a risk, as well as 1,800 between the ages of 15 and 20 – the largest age group represented. | |
| The overall figure is a decrease on the 7,631 people referred to Prevent in the 2015/16 financial year, when 65 per cent (4,997) were suspected of Islamist extremism and 10 per cent (759) of right-wing extremism. | |
| The number is believed to have risen in the wake of terror attacks that struck Britain last year, with security services warning of an “unrelenting” threat. | |
| The figures were revealed after police foiled 10 Islamist and four right-wing terror plots in the same period that saw 36 victims killed and hundreds injured in the Westminster, Manchester, London Bridge, Finsbury Park and Parsons Green attacks. | |
| Mark Rowley, the former head of national counter-terror policing, warned last month that the “right-wing terrorist threat is more significant and more challenging than the public debate gives it credit for”. | |
| His successor, Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, told The Independent that the tempo of terror plots remains high, while appealing for public vigilance. | |
| “It is possible for attacks to get through, and we’ve seen that in the speed people are radicalised, the speed of which they plan and the speed they commit the crime,” he added. “It’s becoming harder to stop these things.” | |
| Online radicalisation is known to have driven several terror attacks and numerous plots in the UK, with Finsbury Park attacker Darren Osborne consuming posts from Tommy Robinson and Britain First and Isis-inspired extremists viewing material from the group's extensive propaganda network. | |
| Anyone suspected of being drawn into terrorism must be reported to Prevent under a statutory duty that covers police, teachers, the NHS, prisons, local councils and other authorities. | |
| Teachers and police officers raised the alarm in most cases, passing on details of people they believed were “vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism”. | Teachers and police officers raised the alarm in most cases, passing on details of people they believed were “vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism”. |
| A third of those were assessed to require no further action by Prevent, 45 per cent were given help through alternative services like housing and education, and 19 per cent went into the voluntary Channel counter-radicalisation scheme. | A third of those were assessed to require no further action by Prevent, 45 per cent were given help through alternative services like housing and education, and 19 per cent went into the voluntary Channel counter-radicalisation scheme. |
| Almost 60 per cent of people referred were aged 20 or under and 82 per cent were male, mostly coming from London or the South East. | Almost 60 per cent of people referred were aged 20 or under and 82 per cent were male, mostly coming from London or the South East. |