Anti-terror programme failed to thwart bomber - EXPRESS COMMENT
IRAQI asylum seeker Ahmed Hassan has been convicted of attempted murder over the bombing of a train at Parsons Green Tube station.
Hassan, 18, who came to Britain illegally in 2015 and was in foster care, was known to the authorities having told Home Office officials that he was “trained to kill”.
He was accordingly enrolled in the Government’s failing de-radicalising Prevent programme. It clearly didn’t work for him. And it is apparent that Prevent as a whole is not working.
Figures show that 7,631 people – many of them children or vulnerable adults – were referred to the programme in 2015-2016 but only 381 received specialist support.
Referrals are usually made by schools, colleges and the police. Two-thirds were referred because of concerns about Islamic terrorism while about a tenth were referred because of concerns about Right-wing terrorism.
Ahmed Hassan found guilty of Parsons Green attack
Part of the problem with Prevent is that it is often accused of fuelling racial and religious discrimination and of stigmatising those who are targeted by the programme even though no action may be taken as a result.
The authorities must show the courage of their convictions. Identifying those who may commit acts of terror isn’t enough if steps are not taken.
Following the verdict Commander Dean Haydon, head of Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command, said that a review into the Prevent programme in Surrey was taking place.
He added: “I describe Hassan as an intelligent and articulate individual that is devious and cunning in equal measures. On the one hand he was appearing to engage with the programme but he kept secret what he was planning and plotting. We describe him as a lone actor.”
A devious teenager shouldn’t be able to derail a Government programme with such ease. Either make Prevent work or scrap it altogether.
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Under the chemical cosh
The issues facing the funding of social care are addressed on this page by Stephen Pollard.
But there are many separate concerns about the treatment of people in care homes.
Head of the NHS Simon Stevens has asked for pharmacists to carry out checks on homes because of fears that residents are being kept quiet and docile with a variety of chemical coshes.
These drugs are creating more medical problems than they are solving. And apart from that it is a lazy and inhumane way to carry on.
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The answer’s set in scone
Jam or cream first?
The great cream tea debate has been settled.
The Queen, we are told, has jam first.
Next on the agenda – does she pronounce scone to rhyme with “on” or “own”?