When I was a Prevent counter terror officer a decade ago our case load was largely focused on Islamist terrorism – clear, defined ideological extremism.

Today the picture looks very different. The majority of cases involve ‘mixed, unclear or unstable ideologies’ or a simple ‘fixation with violence’. In other words, many people being referred no longer seem to have any specific ideology.

The programme is looking at behaviours that are ‘violence-oriented’, which risks blurring our understanding of the real terror threat in the UK.

According to the Home Office, there were 8,778 referrals to Prevent in the latest reporting period, up roughly 27 per cent on the previous year. At first glance these numbers appear to show a surge in radicalisation and extremism. Yet more than half of these ref

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