LONDON: The UK’s greatest chance of reducing terrorist violence risks being undermined amid a backlash to the official the government has chosen to lead a review of counter-terrorism strategy Prevent, the country’s top counter-terrorism officer told The Guardian newspaper.
The aim of Prevent is to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by stopping people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
The appointment of William Shawcross by Home Secretary Priti Patel to lead the review has been met with criticism due to alleged Islamophobic comments he has made in the past.
Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu’s comments to The Guardian come after key Muslim and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, announced a boycott of the official review of Prevent.
Basu said the participation of critics in the official review is vital, and “only when all sides of the discussion are heard can this review achieve what it sets out to achieve.”
He added that Prevent is the most important part of the fight against violent extremism from both Islamists and the far right.
“I have always believed and stated publicly that Prevent is the most important pillar of our counter-terrorism strategy, and counter-terrorism police have long been advocates of an independent review,” he said.
“We will, of course, work with the government’s chosen reviewer, because we believe the process will give our Prevent practitioners the opportunity to share their many years of expertise and insight, with the hope of bringing lasting improvement to this vital strategy,” he added.
“But we also recognize how important the support and trust of our communities will be if we are to continue to protect vulnerable people, and so it is with great disappointment that I read some key groups plan to boycott the review altogether. I would urge them to reconsider, because only when all sides of the discussion are heard can this review achieve what it sets out to achieve.”
In 2019, Basu said Prevent had been the least successful part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, and had at times been “badly handled.”
UK’s top counter-terror officer backs key strategy amid review row
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UK’s top counter-terror officer backs key strategy amid review row
- The aim of Prevent is to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism
- Basu previously said Prevent had been the least successful part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy
Sweden plans to tighten rules for gaining citizenship
- The country has for years struggled to integrate migrants, with many not learning the language and living in disadvantaged areas with higher crime and jobless rates
STOCKHOLM: Sweden said Monday it planned to tighten rules to acquire citizenship, introducing “honest living” and financial requirements, a language and general knowledge test and raising the residency requirement from five to eight years.
If approved by parliament, the new rules would enter into force on June 6, Sweden’s national holiday, and would apply even to applications already being processed.
Migration Minister Johan Forssell, whose right-wing minority government holds a majority with the backing of the far-right Sweden Democrats, told reporters it was currently too easy to acquire Swedish citizenship.
“Citizenship needs to mean more than it does today,” he said.
“Pride is something you feel when you’ve worked hard at something. But working hard is not something that has characterised citizenship.
“It has been possible to become a citizen after five years without knowing a single word of Swedish, without knowing anything about our Swedish society, without having any own income.”
Referring to a case that recently made headlines, he said: “You can even become one while you’re sitting in custody accused of murder.
“This obviously sends completely wrong signals, both to those who do right by themselves and those who are already citizens.”
Following a large influx of migrants to Sweden during the 2015 migrant crisis, successive left- and right-wing governments have tightened asylum and migration rules.
The country has for years struggled to integrate migrants, with many not learning the language and living in disadvantaged areas with higher crime and jobless rates.
Under the new rules, those who have criminal records — in their home country or in Sweden — and who have served their sentence would have to wait up to 17 years before being allowed to apply for citizenship, up from the current 10 years.
In addition, those deemed to not adhere to “honest living” requirements would not be granted citizenship.
That could include racking up mountains of debt, being served restraining orders or even having a drug addiction.
Applicants would also have to have a monthly pre-tax income of 20,000 kronor ($2,225), excluding pensioners and students.
The citizenship tests would be similar to those used in neighboring Denmark and the United States, the government said, with the first tests due to be held in August.
