Latest news with #CommonsHomeAffairsCommittee
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Prevent referrals for young people has doubled since last summer, says Cooper
The number of younger people being referred to the Prevent counter-extremism programme has doubled since last summer, the Home Secretary has revealed. Yvette Cooper told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that she was 'really worried' about 'increasing extremism among young people', with rising numbers being reported to Prevent or arrested for terrorism offences. But she also warned that not enough cases of Islamic extremism were being referred to the programme, saying she was 'concerned about the threshold ending up being too high'. The Government has embarked on an overhaul of the Prevent programme, which aims to divert people away from extremism, amid rising concern about youth radicalisation and following the murder of three young girls in Southport by teenager Axel Rudakubana. Rudakubana had been referred to Prevent, but his case was closed due to his lack of ideology. As well as appointing an independent Prevent commissioner to examine the programme, the Southport case and that of Ali Harbi Ali, who murdered Tory MP Sir David Amess in 2021, ministers launched a review of Prevent thresholds towards the end of last year. Asked about the findings of that review on Tuesday, Ms Cooper said: 'This is one of the issues that I am really worried about, and we are seeing increasing extremism among young people.' Adding that the counter-terror caseload involving young people had trebled in the last three years, she said: 'What we've also seen, I think, is a doubling of the number of young people being referred to Prevent since last summer as well. 'So this does raise some very significant challenges for us.' In response, the Government has proposed new 'youth diversion orders' as part of the Crime and Policing Bill currently making its way through Parliament. The orders are intended to apply to young people who require intervention beyond the voluntary Prevent scheme, and can impose conditions including restrictions on online activity. The latest figures show a slight rise in the number of people being referred to Prevent when compared to the previous year, with 6,922 referrals in the year up to March 31 2024. Around half of those referrals were for people aged under 18, while referrals for 'extreme right-wing concerns' outnumbered those for 'Islamist concerns' for the fourth year running. But Ms Cooper told MPs on Tuesday: 'I continue to be concerned about the threshold ending up being too high and not enough Islamist extremist cases being referred to Prevent, and the need to do more to make sure more of those cases were being referred to Prevent.'
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Badenoch accuses government of failure on grooming gangs
Kemi Badenoch has accused the government of breaking its promise to set up five local inquiries into grooming gangs despite pledging to do so. The Conservative leader said Sir Keir Starmer had promised £5m to fund five locally-led investigations into grooming gangs but delivered just one, in Oldham. During Prime Ministers Questions, Badenoch suggested the Sir Keir was "dragging his heels" on inquiries to shield Labour-run councils from scandal. Sir Keir said Labour were "investing more in delivering truth and justice" for victims of grooming gangs than the Conservatives had during "14 long years" in power. Ministers have been facing growing demands to reveal which areas are running grooming gang inquires alongside the review in Oldham, and a three-month audit of national evidence being led by government troubleshooter Baroness Louise Casey. Earlier this month Tom Crowther, the barrister helping to develop the schemes, suggested local inquiries into grooming gangs had stalled since they were announced in January. Crowther, who chaired the inquiry into child sex abuse in Telford, Shropshire, gave evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee at the start of April and told MPs he had asked a government official "do you still want me?" The issue was again raised in the Commons on Monday, when Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips told MPs she expected there to be more than five local inquires. Labour was focusing on ensuring "there is a local process of accountability that actually changes things on the ground", Phillips told MPs. More local grooming inquiries expected - minister Local grooming gang reviews will go ahead, says Cooper During a heated PMQs exchange, Badenoch sought to tie grooming gang inquiries to the local elections, a series of councils and mayoral votes across England on Thursday. The Tory leader said voters faced a choice of "chaos and cover-ups under Labour councils or better services under the Conservatives". Badenoch repeatedly asked Sir Keir for an update on the local inquires. When he did not respond, she said he "cannot name a single place because nothing is happening". She questioned whether the prime minister was "dragging his heels" on local inquiries into grooming gangs because he "doesn't want Labour cover-ups exposed", adding that the inquiries hadn't started because "local authorities don't want to investigate themselves". Sir Keir accused Badenoch of "staying silent" on the issue in government while he "oversaw the first grooming gang prosecution" as Director of Public Prosecutions. He told the Commons: "I was the prosecutor who brought the first case. "On the back of that I then changed the entire approach to prosecutions, which was then lauded by the government that we were doing the right thing, and brought those prosecutions." In contrast to the Conservatives, Labour were "implementing existing recommendations" of the 2022 national inquiry into child sexual abuse and "providing for local inquiries", he said. For more than a decade there has been a series of high-profile cases where groups of men, predominantly of Pakistani descent, were convicted of sexually abusing and raping mainly white girls in the UK. In 2022, Prof Alexis Jay published the conclusions of a seven-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse, which investigated abuse in churches and schools, as well as by grooming gangs. The Conservative have been calling for a second national inquiry into grooming gangs since the issue was thrust back into the spotlight by tech billionaire Elon Musk at the start of the year. The proposal was backed by opposition MPs, as well as some Labour figures including Rotherham MP Sarah Champion alongside Labour mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
BBC News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Kemi Badenoch accuses government of failure on grooming gangs
Kemi Badenoch has accused the government of breaking its promise to set up five local inquiries into grooming gangs despite pledging to do Conservative leader said Sir Keir Starmer had promised £5m to fund five locally-led investigations into grooming gangs but delivered just one, in Prime Ministers Questions, Badenoch suggested the Sir Keir was "dragging his heels" on inquiries to shield Labour-run councils from Keir said Labour were "investing more in delivering truth and justice" for victims of grooming gangs than the Conservatives had during "14 long years" in power. Ministers have been facing growing demands to reveal which areas are running grooming gang inquires alongside the review in Oldham, and a three-month audit of national evidence being led by government troubleshooter Baroness Louise this month Tom Crowther, the barrister helping to develop the schemes, suggested local inquiries into grooming gangs had stalled since they were announced in who chaired the inquiry into child sex abuse in Telford, Shropshire, gave evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee at the start of April and told MPs he had asked a government official "do you still want me?"The issue was again raised in the Commons on Monday, when Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips told MPs she expected there to be more than five local was focusing on ensuring "there is a local process of accountability that actually changes things on the ground", Phillips told MPs. During a heated PMQs exchange, Badenoch sought to tie grooming gang inquiries to the local elections, a series of councils and mayoral votes across England on Tory leader said voters faced a choice of "chaos and cover-ups under Labour councils or better services under the Conservatives". Badenoch repeatedly asked Sir Keir for an update on the local inquires. When he did not respond, she said he "cannot name a single place because nothing is happening".She questioned whether the prime minister was "dragging his heels" on local inquiries into grooming gangs because he "doesn't want Labour cover-ups exposed", adding that the inquiries hadn't started because "local authorities don't want to investigate themselves".A national inquiry was needed as local probes "cannot force witnesses to appear" and "cannot force people to give evidence under oath", Badenoch Keir accused Badenoch of "staying silent" on the issue in government while he "oversaw the first grooming gang prosecution" as Director of Public told the Commons: "I was the prosecutor who brought the first case."On the back of that I then changed the entire approach to prosecutions, which was then lauded by the government that we were doing the right thing, and brought those prosecutions."In contrast to the Conservatives, Labour were "implementing existing recommendations" of the 2022 national inquiry into child sexual abuse and "providing for local inquiries", he said. For more than a decade there has been a series of high-profile cases where groups of men, predominantly of Pakistani descent, were convicted of sexually abusing and raping mainly white girls in the 2022, Prof Alexis Jay published the conclusions of a seven-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse, which investigated abuse in churches and schools, as well as by grooming Conservative have been calling for a second national inquiry into grooming gangs since the issue was thrust back into the spotlight by tech billionaire Elon Musk at the start of the proposal was backed by opposition MPs, as well as some Labour figures including Rotherham MP Sarah Champion alongside Labour mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
