University counter-terrorism course branded ‘unbalanced’
A CONSERVATIVE peer has urged ministers to “get a grip” on “unbalanced” counter-terrorism training for civil servants as it emerged that a course attended by senior officials had no section on domestic Islamist extremism.
The three-day event hosted at King’s College London in September included a session focused on Right-wing extremism but no equivalent session dedicated to domestic Islamist extremism. Instead, there was a session dedicated to Al Qaeda and Isis.
A spokesman for King’s said the course, which cost taxpayers more than £850 a head for 128 civil servants, was “created in partnership” with the Foreign Office and focused “on their priorities at the time of delivery”. Further such courses are being planned.
Lord Godson, a Conservative peer and director of the Policy Exchange think tank, said the agenda seemed to repeat a “failing” identified in a review of the Prevent counter-extremism programme last year.
The review warned that reports produced by Prevent tended to focus on Islamic State and al-Qaeda while giving “minimal coverage” to UK-based groups “who create a permissive environment from which terrorists can recruit”.
A spokesman for King’s insisted that the “majority of sessions focused on Islamist threats” but declined to set out what training, if any, was given in relation to domestic Islamist extremist groups, citing “national security”.
Last month, the Government proscribed the Islamist extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation after it “lavished Hamas with praise” following the October 7 attacks.
The King’s course is being reviewed by Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, after a former Foreign Office civil servant who attended claimed that it amounted to “indoctrination”.
Slides from the course presentation include claims that “no one accepts they are terrorists” and that “defining a person or group [as] terrorist implies a moral judgement”. One slide posed the question: “Is the problem terrorist violence or its underlying causes?”
Lord Godson said: “A training course with a dedicated section on Right-wing extremism, but without a similar section on Islamist extremism as a phenomenon, appears unbalanced.
A King’s College London spokesman said: “This course has been misrepresented. [It] included a whole afternoon on radicalisation and extremism. This course is created in partnership with the FCDO to ensure it focuses on their priorities at the time of delivery.”