The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure an effective balance between its policies on tackling radicalisation and protecting people at risk of Islamaphobic attacks.
Sarah Newton
The Government is determined to tackle hate crime and extremism wherever it occurs.
The Government’s Prevent strategy, published in 2011, explicitly tackles all forms of terrorism. That includes protecting individuals who are at risk from far right and Neo-nazi extremism, as well as those vulnerable to Islamist extremism.
Prevent is about safeguarding people who are at risk of radicalisation. Prevent does not target a specific faith or ethnic group. Rather, Prevent protects those who are targeted by terrorist recruiters. Currently the greatest threat comes from terrorist recruiters inspired by Daesh. Our Prevent programme will necessarily reflect this by prioritising support for vulnerable British Muslims, and working in partnership with British Muslim communities and civil society groups.
The Prevent programme is implemented in a proportionate manner that takes into account the level of risk in any given area or institution. In some areas the risk of far right extremism may be significant and we would expect in those circumstances for Prevent activity to focus on the far right threat.
Far right extremism often brings with it the threat of anti-Muslim or antisemitic attacks. We have a strong record of action against Islamophobia and antisemitism and deplore all religious or racially motivated crimes.
We strongly condemn the increase in attacks on Muslims that have been seen in this country in recent years. We know the majority of people in United Kingdom join our condemnation, and we have seen great examples of individuals and communities standing together to tackle this hatred.
Muslims make an enormous contribution to British society. They are all too often the victims of hatred and intolerance in this country and overseas. This Government is determined to act to protect British Muslims.
The United Kingdom has in place one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to protect communities from hostility, violence and bigotry. We will keep it under review to ensure it remains effective and appropriate in the face of new and emerging threats. We also published a new Cross-Government Hate Crime Action Plan on 26 July which will drive forward action against all forms of hate crime, including anti-Muslim hatred. This will be taken forward in partnership with communities to ensure we target the harm that hate crime causes.
