‘More than half ’ of anti-terror pupils are far-Right extremists

MORE than half of the pupils who are being put through the Prevent deradicalisation programme are now far-Right extremists.

The scheme, which was originally devised to combat Islamic extremism, has dealt with hundreds of farRight students in the past year, according to Home Office figures.

It means that for the first time, such cases have overtaken those of Islamic extremists in Britain’s schools and colleges.

The official data has been mentioned in secret meetings that Department for Education officials have had across the country with counter-extremism specialists and workers.

And last night experts said that though the data showed an increase in far-Right extremism in society in recent years, it also displayed a greater awareness of it among t eachers and staff at schools and colleges.

In 2017-18, there were 2,426 Prevent referrals from schools and colleges for extremism made by concerned teachers and staff about students.

Of those, 922, or 38 per cent, were for Islamic extremism while 576, or 23 per cent, were for farRight ones.

However, the vast majority of these referrals were looked at and dismissed by Government Prevent officers as ‘false’.

Only those that are deemed to be genuine are ‘ discussed at Panel level’ by Prevent officers, meaning they become cases.

There were 490 cases discussed at Panel level from schools and colleges, of which 219, or 44 per cent, were for far-Right extremism and 183, or 37 per cent, were for Islamic ones.

The figures show that those troubled students who were then deradicalised through the bespoke Channel programme, t ot al l ed 165 for the year.

Of those provided Channel support, 91, or 55 per cent, were farRight extremist students, and 57, or 34 per cent, were Islamic extremist cases. In 2016-17, Islamic extremism referrals in schools and colleges were higher than Right- wing ones, at 56 per cent compared with 32 per cent.

For the same year, support provided through Channel was 49 per cent for Islamic extremists and 43 per cent for far-Right radicalism.

William Baldet, a Prevent officer and a senior fellow at the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, said: ‘There are two things here, firstly, there is more far- Right extremism around as society lurches more towards the Right in America and Europe.

‘Secondly there is more awareness of far- Right extremism in schools by teachers, as we’ve had two terror attacks here, and there have been big incidents in the US.’

But Mr Baldet added that despite the surge in far-Right extremism, the chances of a far-Right terrorist atrocity has remained the same in Britain and not increased.

He said: ‘The chance of an Islamist terror attack is still higher.’

Prevent experts say t hat t he type of far-Right extremism that students show in schools and colleges is more ‘identitarian’.

This phrase describes the farRight belief that Britain’s racial map is changing irrevocably with more immigration, and advocates that white British people must live and marry ‘their own kind’, while black and Asian Britons should do likewise.

Prevent officials believe that very few pupils show signs of white neo-Nazi extremism, which wants Britain for whites only, and often advocates attacks on non-whites.