an independent review of the scheme that has been hit by delays and controversy since being promised in
January 2019.
The review has not had a leader since Lord Carlile stepped down amid a legal challenge in December. The
Home Office said there would be a “full and open competition” to appoint a new reviewer, but there are
concerns over whether a thorough review can be completed before its statutory deadline in August.
The government has repeatedly denied that Prevent discriminates against Muslims, and pointed to the
growing number of referrals for suspected right-wing extremism. More than 5,700 people were referred to
Prevent over extremism concerns in 2018-19. Suspected Islamists and far-right extremists each made up 24
per cent of the total, while 38 per cent were flagged over a “mixed, unstable or unclear ideology” and 14 per
cent were referred over other types of radicalisation.
A quarter “required no further action” and half were passed on to other services, such as education, housing
and mental health, for alternative support. A further 23 per cent were considered by the Channel counter-
radicalisation scheme, which sees people paired with “intervention providers”, such as imams or former
Nazis, to help combat the ideology as their progress is regularly reviewed.