Home Office ‘leaked Prevent’s Islam report’

LEFT-WING Home Office officials were yesterday accused of leaking a call to crack down on Islamists with the antiterrorism programme.

Allies of William Shawcross, author of the report, claimed it was a political leak to undermine a recommendation that Prevent should be refocused away from Right-wing extremism.

The report is also expected to criticise some Prevent-funded groups for promoting extremist narratives, including the Taliban. Home Office lawyers are reviewing the evidence, leading to fears it could be watered down.

The leak, thought to have infuriated Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, who commissioned Mr Shawcross, follows a backlash from officials in the Home Office over plans to send Channel migrants to Rwanda to claim asylum.

The Henry Jackson Society, a thinktank where Mr Shawcross was a director, said the 15-month review’s findings were confidential until it was passed to the Home Office two weeks ago.

Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of the society, said: “This outrageous leak likely conducted by hostile forces within the Home Office underlines how out of control officials within the Home Office – who see themselves as above their ministers – are.

“Priti Patel needs to immediately probe who the responsible official is and ensure that her department is capable of holding sensitive information – even when it clashes with the world view of her London officials.”

It follows growing criticism that the programme has failed to stop numerous terrorists, including Ali Harbi Ali, the killer of Sir David Amess who was referred to Prevent but left unchecked to carry out the attack.