School interior. Wikicommons/Chris Dixon. Some rights reserved. The UK’s New Labour government abandoned the ‘war on terror’ discourse under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, yet its anti-democratic aims have been extended through a ‘counter-extremism’ agenda. The government programme ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ was established a decade ago to identify individuals vulnerable to extremist ideas, ostensibly to prevent ‘violent extremism’, i.e. terrorism.
The programme has had mounting criticism and widespread opposition, especially in the run-up to becoming a statutory duty for public-sector institutions in 2015. Amongst other objections, the key term ‘extremist’, triggered by an ever-widening range of indicators, e.g. modest dress, religious observance and political statements, especially by Muslims, has been queried. A vague definition of this term has meant that more and more people are targeted for views which would otherwise be regarded as normal political discourse. Targets have broadened to include potentially any oppositional activity.
Despite the growing opposition to the Prevent programme, its surveillance and ‘deradicalisation’ practices are being expanded, supposedly to safeguard vulnerable individuals. What drives this agenda can only be inferred from its routine practises.
