What the Shawcross review says about Britain’s counter-radicalisation efforts and what it means. Hannah Stuart 8 February 2023 In January 2021, author and former Chair of the Charity Commission William Shawcross was appointed by the Home Secretary to lead the independent review of Prevent, part of the country’s wider counter-terrorism strategy. Shawcross’s review and the Government’s response were today laid before Parliament, marking the fulfilment of a commitment to an independent review in the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. In a wide-ranging and detailed review, Shawcross sets out his findings on Prevent and makes 34 recommendations for change, all of...

Read more

Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) is a registered charity which was founded in the UK in 1984 but now has branches in over 40 countries. Its stated focus is humanitarian work and delivering aid. Egyptian co-founder, Hany el-Banna, summarises their mission as being to add “Islamic values to the international community of humanitarian organisations”. However, IRW has had to fight to defend its reputation in recent years after being put under the spotlight by some of the UK’s closest allies regarding what they claim are its links to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood network and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. IRW fiercely...

Read more

William Shawcross was this week appointed as the Independent Reviewer of Prevent. The Prevent review, that aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism, was announced in January 2019 by then security minister Ben Wallace. It was a concession granted by Theresa May’s government to some of Prevent’s critics in order to ensure parliamentary support for its Counter-terrorism and Border Security Bill. Shawcross is a smart appointment to take up this task. Here are three reasons why. Firstly, Shawcross recognises the threat posed by terrorism and has done more than most to bring attention to the challenges it poses to liberal...

Read more

The East London Mosque (ELM) is an influential institution. Go to its website today and you see a September 2020 visit from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; a BBC documentary about the mosque; and a virtual interfaith iftar attended by various dignitaries, including multiple MPs. It has hosted a series of other high-profile figures in the past, including multiple Mayors of London. It was described by Ed Husain in his 2007 book The Islamist as a “strategically placed institution at the heart of the densest population of Muslims in Britain”. The ELM has also long been associated with South Asian...

Read more