London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Alarm as leak reveals Prevent ‘carrying the weight’ for mental health services

Alarm as leak reveals Prevent ‘carrying the weight’ for mental health services

People ‘who do not necessarily pose terrorism risk’ referred to anti-extremism programme to speed up access to support
Mental health campaigners have sounded the alarm over a leaked review of anti-extremism programme Prevent, which suggests those without extremist views are being referred to the programme to access faster mental health services.

Draft extracts of the leaked report by William Shawcross, seen by the Guardian, warn of a “serious misallocation of resources” and that the programme is being misused because of the strain on mental health provision.

“In my assessment, Prevent is carrying the weight for mental health services,” the report says. “Vulnerable people who do not necessarily pose a terrorism risk are being referred to Prevent in order to access other types of much-needed support. This is a serious misallocation of resources and risks diverting attention from the threat itself.”

James Starkie, a former Home Office adviser who founded the No Time To Wait campaign to speed up access to mental health support, said the Home Office must investigate the referrals.

“If people are being referred to the Prevent programme simply to gain mental health support then it needs to stop immediately. These claims in the leaked report should be investigated by government,” he said.

“It cannot be right that people suffering with mental health issues are being labelled extremist simply to access the help they need.”

Other mental health charities also voiced concern. Vicki Nash, the head of policy, campaigns and public affairs at the charity Mind, said: “If true, allegations that some people are being referred to a controversial Home Office-led anti-terrorism programme just so that they can access statutory mental health services are hugely concerning.

“We have to ask ourselves what our nation has come to if the only way to guarantee basic treatment for mental health problems is to be referred to an anti-terrorism programme.”

Alexa Knight, the director of policy and practice at the mental health advice service ReThink, said: “We know that there is huge pressure on mental health services with rising demand and this is very alarming. Like with most health services, it’s really important that people get the right care and the most appropriate care for them and it doesn’t sound as if this is the answer.

“I think the government and all of us need to really understand what is happening here and make sure that there are appropriate routes and services for everybody who needs help.”

A number of community and anti-fascist groups also said they were alarmed at the leaked findings, which also suggested there had been too narrow a focus on Islamist extremism and too broad on rightwing terror.

Shawcross has previously been criticised for comments he made about Muslims as director of the Henry Jackson Society, where he said in 2012 that: “Europe and Islam is one of the greatest, most terrifying problems of our future.”

A former Home Office counter-extremism official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the government would use the number of terror attacks to justify an increased focus on Muslims.

“It’s very shortsighted and suits Shawcross’s agenda,” they said. “The government has been reluctant to look at the definition of ‘Islamist’ itself, which feeds wider anti-Muslim sentiment.” They added that the government had still not responded to Sara Khan’s flagship review into counter-extremism.

Nick Lowles, the chief executive of Hope Not Hate, the UK’s leading antifascism and antiracism campaign group, said the leaked draft was “very worrying” and raised questions about how different forms of extremism could be pitted against each other.

“Prevent, and indeed the wider police approach to violent extremism, should be based on threat and the potential for violence, not pitting one form of extremism against another,” he said.

Zara Mohammed, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, which has repeatedly raised concerns about Prevent and the role of Shawcross leading the review, said: “Prevent has alienated Muslims and is now being politicised by divisive ideologues keen to frame Muslims as a phantom fifth column. As such, we are not surprised with suggestions that far-right extremism be deprioritised.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Says China Made 'a Real Mistake' by Threatening Rare-Earth Exports
Report Claims Nearly Two Billion Dollars in Foreign Charity Funds Flowed into U.S. Advocacy Groups
White House Refutes Reports That US Targeting Military Sites in Venezuela
Meta Seeks Dismissal of Strike 3’s $350 Million Copyright Lawsuit
Apple Exceeds Forecasts With $102.5 Billion Q3 Revenue Despite iPhone Miss
Israel's IDF Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi Admits to Act Amounting to Aiding Hamas During Wartime (Treason)
Shawbrook IPO Marks London’s Biggest UK Listing in Two Years
UK Government Split Over Backing Brazil’s $125 Billion Tropical Forest Fund Ahead of COP30
J.K. Rowling Condemns Glamour UK Feature of Nine Trans Women as 'Men Better at Being Women'
King Charles III Removes Prince Andrew’s Titles and Orders His Departure from Royal Lodge
UK Finance Minister Reeves Releases Email Correspondence to Clarify Rental-Licence Breach
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
×