Mosques launch alternative to Prevent scheme

The Guardian has reported that mosques have launched a new anti-radicalisation programme as an alternative to the often-criticised Prevent strategy.

Supported by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Safe and Secure is intended to address the same issues as Prevent but without the accompanying stigma, countering the opinion that the Muslim community is not doing enough to counter the threat posed by extremists.

Created by Dal Babu, a former senior Muslim police officer, and Mike Howes, a former council head of community safety, Safe and Secure seeks to cover a similar audience as Prevent, mainly teachers, social workers, NHS staff and the police, and is already running workshops for free as a result of the current strategy ‘foundering’.

Howes also revealed that the scheme will reach beyond the anti-radicalisation reach of Prevent and tackle the ‘commonality of vulnerabilities between radicalisation, child sexual exploitation and gang membership … which are about low self-esteem, a sense of belonging’.

Babu said: “We want to make this more about safeguarding than focus just on radicalisation. One of the biggest challenges is if you put ‘toxic brand’ into Google, the first thing that comes up is the government’s Prevent strategy. It’s about how you engage with a community in a way that is much more inclusive. “They [the architects of Prevent] didn’t get any buy-in from the community.”

This news story was sourced by the Guardian on 22 March 2018.