Political correctness allowed Islamist extremism to go unchecked in UK, British home secretary says

LONDON: Political correctness in the UK had created a “blind spot” in its national security regarding Islamist extremism, the British home secretary said on Wednesday.

Suella Braverman also said not enough had been done to clamp down on a “highly coordinated” Islamic extremist network in the UK.

Her comments came after a review of the UK’s counter-extremism program, Prevent, which concluded that not enough had been done to tackle radicalization within Britain’s Muslim community.

The review, which was commissioned in 2019 and carried out by William Shawcross, ruled that extremist Islamic ideology was often “misinterpreted, misunderstood or even overlooked” by a government focusing too heavily on far-right extremism.

The review called for a renewed focus on Islamist extremism, even when candidates for referral to Prevent failed to meet the terrorism threshold.

“We have a blind spot in the system,” Braverman said. “It has allowed certain Islamist groups to operate under our radar. There can be no place for political correctness in our national security. In fact, I’d like to banish it altogether,” she added.

In the speech, a copy of which The Times obtained, Braverman also accused Muslim groups of pursuing “dishonest narratives” in criticizing the Prevent program.

“Groups like Mend (Muslim Engagement and Development) and Cage have persistently pursued harmful and dishonest narratives, which until now have gone largely unchallenged,” she said.

“Their members have repeatedly been involved in the demonization of Muslims who co-operate in counter-extremism efforts,” she added.

Braverman said that a new program to counter disinformation will now be included in the existing Prevent strategy and announced that an independent standards and compliance unit will be created for community leaders and members to report concerns to ensure the government tackles issues in the appropriate manner.

“Extremism is not only dangerous because it can lead to violence. It is dangerous in its own right,” she said. “And unless we deal with it comprehensively, we should not be surprised when it continues to endure and grow — with disastrous consequences for our shared norms, values, basic rights and freedoms,” she added.

Anas Mustapha, head of Cage’s public advocacy, said Braverman’s comments were “inciting and exploiting societal prejudices,” and said the group would continue its opposition to the Prevent program and the “rise of the authoritarian surveillance state.”