The controversial new National Union of Students president has suggested Government cuts to education could be to blame for a rise in young people joining terror groups in Syria. Speaking during a debate at University College London, Malia Bouattia, 28, said the “political climate which we’re in” is causing people to take “certain actions and joining these groups and wanting to inflict violence.”
Further arguing why young people “feel so disempowered” that they’re left with no choice but to go off to Syria, in audio obtained by HuffPost UK, Ms Bouattia can be heard saying mass unemployment, education being privatised – “and rendered ever inaccessible” – as well as youth centres being closed down are to blame. She added: “Every service available to support young people to allow space for critical thought and development has been shut down by the state.”