London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Britain to overhaul its counter-extremism strategy

Britain to overhaul its counter-extremism strategy

The UK government is set to overhaul its counter-extremism strategy and introduce a new programme against hateful behaviour, according to Whitehall officials.
The Home Office said it kept its counter-extremism strategy under “constant review”, but Whitehall officials expressed concerns that the shake-up could jeopardise important work in communities to tackle hardline Islamist and far-right ideology.

One government insider said the Home Office’s counter-extremism unit was set to be scrapped as part of the changes.

This person added that staff in the unit have been asked to draw up proposals to fold it into a new programme focused on hateful behaviour, or absorb it into the department’s counterterror team.

“Counter-extremism is on its way out,” said the government insider. “As far as we are aware it’s going to be transformed into hateful behaviours, or integrated into counter-terrorism work.”

Another person familiar with the shake-up said: “This is a serious overhaul of the counter-extremism strategy . . . The idea is to focus less on extremism by itself, and more on the nexus between extremist ideology and hate speech.”

The Home Office counter-extremism unit is separate to Prevent, the department’s programme that focuses on individuals who have shown a tendency towards violence that could culminate in terrorism.

The government’s counter-extremism strategy was launched in 2015 by then prime minister David Cameron, partly in response to how hardline Islamic activists had sought control of several Birmingham schools.

The strategy aimed to prevent extremists infiltrating public institutions and charities, in part by funding civil society groups to work in communities to help individuals at risk of being drawn towards radical ideology.

A government document about the strategy published in 2015 said ministers would tackle all forms of extremism: violent and non-violent, Islamist and neo-Nazi.

While it said the greatest challenge was the global rise of Islamist extremism, the document also cited hate crimes and harmful and illegal cultural practices, including female genital mutilation and forced marriage.

The expected overhaul of the government’s strategy means flagship Home Office projects such as Building a Stronger Britain Together, which funds community groups to work against extremism, face an uncertain future.

Groups were not offered funding as normal this year due to budget constraints caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government official.

Nasra Ayub, a trustee and outreach worker at charity Integrate, which receives funding from the Building a Stronger Britain Together programme, said grassroots organisations had not been consulted about the looming shake-up.

She suggested that a programme focused on hateful behaviour would not tackle the full range of issues raised by extremism in Britain today, including female genital mutilation.

Ms Ayub said problems with the defining of counter-extremism, particularly among communities of colour targeted by the government’s strategy, meant a review was welcome but that people most affected must be consulted.

A Home Office official said discussions about the future of the counter-extremism unit were at an early stage and no decisions had been made.

The Home Office said it was committed to “confronting extremism in all its forms”.

“We remain focused on disrupting the activities of the most dangerous extremists, supporting those who stand up to extremism, and protecting vulnerable people from being drawn into terrorism,” it added.

“We keep our counter-extremism strategy under constant review to ensure it is best placed to tackle the evolving threat.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×