New terrorism strategy published

2011-06-07 17:51:16

8 June 2011 Last updated at 00:02 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Updated anti-extremism strategy published

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Yvette Cooper: "There is a massive gap between her rhetoric and the reality"

Under the plans, computers in schools, libraries and colleges will also be barred from accessing unlawful material on the internet.

But Ms Cooper said there was a gap between Mrs May's rhetoric and the reality of the government's policy on terrorism, while budget cuts would make it more difficult for Whitehall to deal with extremists.

"We support updating the Prevent strategy but there is a massive gap between your rhetoric today and the reality of your policies.

"Where you should be building consensus around counter-terrorism, instead you have been political point-scoring and you have set out no actual proposals as to how you would deliver in such an important area," she said.

Ms Cooper also attacked the government for failing to ban one radical Islamist group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, even though it pledged to do so while in opposition. Labour ministers said they would ban it, but did not.

Mrs May said the government was keeping the group "under constant review".

Maajid Nawaz, executive director of counter-terrorism think-tank Quilliam, said the new strategy was a step in the right direction.

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But he warned that its definition of Islamism was "so broad that it fails to distinguish between Islamists and politically active Muslims inspired by Islam".

"This unnecessarily smears ordinary politically-active Muslims and works to the favour of Islamists who benefit from hiding behind such blurred distinctions," he said.

But Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison, the lead on the Prevent strategy for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said Acpo had been "fully supportive of this government review".

"The effects of Prevent policing have not caused widespread damage or harm to relationships between Muslim communities and the police.

"Instead communities are increasingly taking the lead in challenging violent extremism," he said.

Prevent was originally launched after the 7 July bombings in 2005 to stop the growth of home-grown terrorism.

Previously, Mrs May has said that, as a result of the strategy's review of government support, about 20 of the organisations that received funding over the past three years would have their cash withdrawn.

On Tuesday night, new measures to replace controversial control orders moved a step closer to becoming law after the bill gained an unopposed second reading.

Under the new regime - known as T-Pims (Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures) - terror suspects who cannot be prosecuted or deported will still face significant restrictions on their liberties.

Control orders place terrorism suspects under close supervision, and critics have said the new system is little more than "control orders lite".

Mrs May told the Commons that T-Pims would be "more focused and targeted" than the control orders regime set up under Labour, which was "neither perfect nor entirely effective".

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