Manchester urges its residents to report suspicions of radicalisation

▶ Mayor says cities cannot rely solely on police, so he has shifted to a whole-society approach

Manchester will introduce a programme urging residents to report on any suspicions of radicalisation, admitting that security services and police are unable to monitor all new terrorist threats.

If successful, the initiative could spread to other British cities. Andy Burnham, the Mayor, said his city would pilot a “whole society” approach to gathering and handling information on suspected violent extremists. The programme emerged from a report that examined ways to tackle radicalisation and social exclusion after the suicide bomb attack by Salman Abedi on a concert venue in the city in May last year, which killed 22 people and wounded hundreds more.

Abedi, a Manchester resident, was identified as a security risk but was not under investigation at the time of the attack.

“If it was ever the case that the police and security services might be able to monitor every person who poses a risk to us, then it is certainly not possible now,” said Mr Burnham, a former minister in the government of Gordon Brown.

“To take a whole-society approach to this means that there is an obligation on us all to report behaviour that goes beyond the norms of acceptability.”

The report, by a panel including a senior prosecutor and a former right-wing extremist, found most people were happy reporting “hate crimes” but were less keen to tell agencies about worrying changes in behaviour among families and friends.

“We need to develop new ways for people to have difficult conversations about friends or family about whom they are worried,” Mr Burnham said.

The report highlighted concerns among Manchester’s Asian residents about the government’s anti-radicalisation programme, Prevent, which has been seen by some as unfairly targeting Muslims.

The report said the lack of information about the programme was “exploited by those with an anti-Prevent or anti-Islam agenda” and led to a fear of persecution among Muslim communities.

Hate crimes targeting Muslims increased 500 per cent in Manchester after last year’s attack, the report found.

Monitoring reports said those attacked included Muslim doctors and citizens travelling to hospitals to donate blood after the attack.

A survey carried out by the panel found 65 per cent of respondents had been victims of “hateful behaviour”.

An intelligence review of four attacks in the UK last year found that three of the six attackers were on the radar of MI5, the domestic security service. The review found it was “conceivable” that the Manchester attack could have been averted “had the cards fallen differently”.

A meeting to discuss Abedi’s case was due to take place nine days after the attack on Manchester Arena. Abedi, born in Britain of Libyan parents, filled a rucksack with metal and blew himself up in the foyer of the venue as families filed out of a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande. His younger brother Hashem is detained in Libya while the UK seeks his extradition to face trial for his alleged role in the attacks.

“It is hoped that, should this work be introduced, it may prevent future acts of terrorism,” the report said.

We need new ways for people to have difficult conversations about friends or family about whom they are worried

ANDY BURNHAM Manchester Mayor