The issue of extremism on university campuses has been part of the public debate since the 7/7 attacks, and comes under new scrutiny every time an individual involved in violent extremism is found to have studied at a UK university. In 2011, the revised Prevent strategy declared there was “…unambiguous evidence” extremist organisations targeted specific […]
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The Prevent Duty on Campus – Reflections on First Term Experiences
On 21st September, a new statutory duty for universities to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism” came into force. This gave institutions a legal requirement to put policies in place to challenge on-campus radicalisation and guarantee compliance with the government’s Prevent strategy. While universities have broadly accepted […]
Continue readingNUS campaign materials endorse extremist groups
Today, activists from the National Union of Students (NUS) Welfare Campaign and NUS Black Students’ Campaign are taking part in a “national day of action” against Prevent, the government counter-radicalisation policy. Part of an ongoing effort to undermine attempts to challenge extremism on campus, this follows a number of events on the issue which have […]
Continue reading‘Students not Suspects’ continues to work with CAGE
Yesterday, the government launched its Counter-Extremism Strategy, which included the expectation that the National Union of Students (NUS) “avoid providing a platform for extremist speakers”. This follows a week in which NUS officers have toured the country spreading misinformation about Prevent, and shared platforms with a CAGE official at a number of events. They have […]
Continue readingNUS campaign works with IHRC to attack PreventOur recent report, ‘Preventing Prevent? Challenges to
Our recent report, ‘Preventing Prevent? Challenges to Counter-Radicalisation Policy on Campus’, highlighted how student opposition to counter-radicalisation policy has been influenced by extremist narratives. Student groups have also compounded this problem by working alongside the very extremists that such programmes seek to oppose. This was demonstrated again last week, as the NUS Black Students’ Campaign […]
Continue readingNew Student Rights report examines challenges to Prevent
A new report by Student Rights has found that the government’s counter-radicalisation strategy, Prevent, is being prevented from functioning effectively due to widespread student opposition, despite significant concerns about on-campus extremism. ‘Preventing Prevent? Challenges to Counter-Radicalisation Policy On Campus’, released today, has recorded over 100 on-campus events each year since 2012 hosting speakers with extreme views or a history […]
Continue readingUCU opposition to Prevent leads to support for extremists
In recent months, government attempts to deal with campus extremism have faced opposition from students, lecturers, and even the former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Following the General Election, plans to give universities a legal duty to prevent students from being drawn into extremism have returned to the agenda – as has the resistance to […]
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