Latest news with #culturalnationalism
Russia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Concerns over UK migration are ‘terrorist'
A UK government training guide has labelled concerns over mass migration as an extremist ideology which could warrant outside intervention for purported 'deradicalization.' The so-called Prevent program lists 'far-right and extreme right-wing terrorism' as one of the key dangers facing the country. It also stressed that one of its hallmarks is 'cultural nationalism,' which it describes as a belief that ''Western Culture' is under threat from mass migration into Europe and from a lack of integration by certain ethnic and cultural groups.' The signs of 'cultural nationalism' include 'the rejection of… practices such as the wearing of the burqa or the perceived rise of the use of sharia law,' the advisory claims. It adds that another key concern is 'White Nationalism,' which espouses the idea that 'some sort of 'White' homeland' is under 'existential threat' due to demographic change. The Prevent strategy, which is part of the training provided to teachers, police officers, and health workers, among others, is intended to identify early signs of radicalization and intervene before individuals become involved in terrorism. It is also based on the notion that 'there is no socio-demographic profile of a terrorist in the UK, and no single pathway or 'conveyor belt', leading to terrorism.' The course has triggered a strong public backlash. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss suggested that 'most Britons would agree' with the statement that Western culture is under threat. 'We have a deep state that is working against the people. The Prevent program should be cancelled,' she wrote on X. Lord Young of Acton, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, warned that Prevent is targeting individuals 'whose views are entirely lawful but politically controversial.' In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, he said: 'Even mainstream, right-of-center beliefs risk being treated as ideologically suspect.' A Home Office spokesperson defended the program, saying: 'Prevent is not about restricting debate or free speech, but about protecting those susceptible to radicalization.' The UK has struggled for years to respond to domestic security challenges. In May, 20-year-old Ilyas Akhtar was charged with terrorism-related offences in Slough over two arson attacks and one bomb hoax incident aimed at a supermarket. Last October, Axel Rudakubana, the 18-year-old son of Rwandan immigrants to the UK, was charged with the murder of three young girls and the injury of another ten, also mostly children, in Southport, North West England. According to the Daily Telegraph, the latter had been referred to the Prevent program on at least three separate occasions prior to the rampage.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Fury as fear of mass migration branded ‘terrorist ideology' in official govt training papers
CONCERN about mass migration is a 'terrorist ideology' that requires deradicalisation, official government training documents state. A course hosted by the anti-extremism programme Prevent lists 'cultural nationalism' as a belief that should trigger alarm. It includes a view that 'Western culture is under threat from mass mig-ration and lack of integration by certain ethnic or cultural groups'. The news has sparked fury with free speech activists, including Toby Young, head of the Free Speech Union. In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, he writes: 'Now that 'cultural nationalism' has been classified as a subcategory of extreme right-wing terrorist ideology, even mainstream, right-of-centre beliefs risk being treated as ideologically suspect, despite falling well within the bounds of lawful expression.' The Home Office said: 'Prevent is not about restricting debate or free speech, but preventing those suscept-ible to radicalisation.' It comes after 1,194 illegal migrants arrived on small boats last Saturday. The leader of Labour's Red Wall faction said Sir Keir Starmer should consider reforming ECHR laws blamed for letting an Albanian criminal stay here due to his son not liking chicken nuggets abroad. Backbencher Jo White said: 'We need to be looking at things like ECHR article eight. "I don't think anything should be off the table. 13 migrants jumped from the back of a lorry at a Sainsbury's distribution centre in South East London 2
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Is Sir Keir Starmer a Right-wing extremist?
Is Sir Keir Starmer KC – Left-wing human rights lawyer, former director of public prosecutions, and Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – a dangerous Right-wing extremist? Common sense, evidence and reality say emphatically not. Government materials issued as part of Prevent training programmes give a less clear answer. The Prime Minister's warning that uncontrolled migration risks turning Britain into an ' island of strangers ' would appear to risk falling foul of the definitions used in a Prevent course taken by thousands of public sector professionals with a duty to make referrals to the scheme. This defines 'cultural nationalism' as a type of extreme Right-wing terrorist ideology, including the belief that 'Western culture is under threat from mass migration and a lack of integration by certain ethnic and cultural groups'. Sir Keir is no more an extremist than any other writer who has expressed concern over the unprecedented scale and pace of migration and cultural change in recent years. Why, then, has the Government risked labelling him as such? The short answer is that, riddled with political anxieties over the composition of terrorism in Britain – 80 per cent of the Counter Terrorism Police network's live investigations involved Islamism in 2023, compared with 10 per cent for the extreme Right – Prevent has given the appearance of loosening the definition of the latter in order to provide an artificial 'balance' to its work. As the Shawcross Review found in 2023, the programme has adopted a 'double standard' when dealing with Islamists and the extreme Right. The results have been farcical, with an 'expansive' definition of Right-wing extremism capturing 'mildly controversial or provocative forms of mainstream, Right-wing leaning commentary that have no meaningful connection to terrorism or radicalisation' even while Prevent funded organisations whose leaders have publicly made statements 'sympathetic to the Taliban' and referred to militant Islamists as 'so-called 'terrorists' of the legitimate resistance groups'. Such absurdities might be overlooked if Prevent had also proved ruthlessly effective at preventing atrocities. It has not. Prevent has failed to identify dangerous and violent suspects on multiple occasions, including Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, who was referred and dismissed on three occasions before carrying out his attack. A deradicalisation programme that seems to show less interest in deradicalising potential terrorists than in policing Right-wing thought is unfit for purpose. It beggars belief that two years after the Shawcross Review we are once again having the same conversations. Prevent must be reformed – or if incapable of change, dismantled entirely.
