PM: Struggle of our generation
New powers will ban extremists from working with children They’ll automatically be placed on a register Parents who suspect teens on way to Syria can grab passports
ISLAMIST extremists will be treated l i ke paedophiles and automatically banned from working with children, the Prime Minister will announce today.
New powers wi l l also allow parents to apply for under-18s’ passports to be removed if there are fears they have been brainwashed and might travel to Syria.
The measures are included in an updated counter-extremism strategy designed to win what David Cameron calls the ‘struggle of our generation’.
Convicted terrorists and other extremists will be put on a register that mirrors the vetting regime used by authorities to check if a person has a conviction for child sex abuse.
It will ensure they are ‘ automatically banned from working with children … in the same way as individuals convicted of sexual offences against children’, a Downing Street official said last night.
During a party conference speech earlier this month, the Prime Minister warned that ‘passive tolerance’ of extremism and a failure to make Muslim communities integrate had put Britain’s children in ‘danger’. Today he will say the ‘stakes are rising’ and Britain can no longer ‘turn a blind eye’ to fanatics brainwashing children to take part in terrorism or become jihadists.
For the first time, employers will be able to use the Disclosure and Barring Service to check if an individual is on a list of extremists – compiled from information provided by police and courts.
The ban on working with children and vulnerable adults will apply in the case of both criminal convictions and, crucially, civil orders for such activities as preaching extremism, or handing out leaflets that are inflammatory.
Number Ten said it would help to prevent a repeat of the Trojan Horse plot, in which extremists gained control of several schools i n Birmingham attended by 5,000 pupils.
The strategy also includes: ÷Banning and disruption orders to stop fanatics preaching bile on the internet or at rallies; ÷Closure orders which allow premises, including mosques, to be shut down if they have been infiltrated by hardliners; ÷Powers for Ofcom to take action against TV channels that broadcast extremist content; ÷Extending passport removal powers to under-18s to stop them travelling overseas.
Under t he current s ystem, passports can only be confiscated from under-16s, following a request to HM Passport Office.
The new passport rules will apply where parents are concerned their 16 or 17-year- old children are at risk of travelling abroad under the influence of extremists.
Of 338 recent counter-terrorism related arrests, 157 were linked to Syria and 56 were of people under the age of 20.
Officials say there have been cases of parents trying to hide their children’s passports, knowing they were trying to get to Syria.
There have also been a series of successful court order applications by local authorities to protect children at risk of travelling, either by their own choice or as part of a family unit.
Mr Cameron will warn: ‘I have said before that defeating Islamist extremism will be the struggle of our generation. It is one of the biggest social problems we need to overcome.
‘ We know that extremism is really a symptom; ideology is the root cause – but the stakes are rising and that demands a new approach. So we have a choice – do we turn a blind eye or do we choose to get out there and make the case for our British values?’
The Prime Minister will say the Government’s choice is to ‘take on this poisonous i deology with resolve, determination and the goal of building a greater Britain’.
The counter-extremism strategy will target militants even if they do not specifically advocate violence – as well as racists, antiSemites and those who spread conspiracy theories.
Internet firms will also be ordered to work more closely with the police to remove online propaganda.
Ministers want greater use of available technology which the web giants use to take down child abuse images. The Islamic State group produces 38 unique pieces of propaganda a day.
Robert Hannigan, the head of GCHQ, has accused the l i kes of Twitter and Facebook of being ‘the command and control networks of choice’ for terrorists.
He said US-based tech firms were ‘in denial’ about the misuse of their services.
Some £5million will be shared among groups committed to challenging extremist propaganda and producing ‘alternative narratives’. This could include publishing a newspaper run by moderate imams.
There will also be a new drive to tackle extremism in prisons and in colleges. Yesterday, it emerged that half of inmates at Whitemoor high-security jail are Muslims.
They form the ‘ biggest power bloc’ in the Category A prison, taking over from the previous ‘gangs’, according to inspectors.
In a statement, the Muslim Council of Britain said: ‘Is this new policy initiative about tackling alienation, or seeking more securitisation?’
Labour’s shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham, backed Mr Cameron, but said the Conservative leader ‘needs to take care to make sure the measures are not heavy-handed’.
‘The stakes are rising’