In July 2015, the UK government introduced a statutory duty on all public sector workers to spot the signs of ‘radicalisation’ in order to stop their charges being ‘drawn into terrorism’. The government uses a system of 22 factors that has been developed to train these public sector employees in spotting signs of vulnerability. This CAGE report, details for the first time how the government produced these factors in secret, and subsequently relied on an evidence base that was not only unproven, but extended far beyond its original remit. Key among our findings, is the admission by those who wrote the study, that they did not factor political grievance into the modelling, a fact they say was, “perhaps an omission”. Further, the government’s study states that only trained professionals should be using these factors, and yet they have been rolled out nationally under a statutory duty imposed under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 – ultimately being used in what they term the pre-crime space. Reviewed by 18 academics this is one of CAGE’s most robust reports that have critiqued and shed light on the government’s counter extremism strategy. Over 140 academics signed a joint letter criticising the ‘science’ underlying the government’s ‘radicalisation’ policy. They also called for the publication of the classified ERG22+ study, which underpins the entire PREVENT agenda. “This report raises far-reaching questions about evidence base and credibility of the government’s counter terrorism strategy and specifically the idea that ‘signs’ of ‘extremism’ can be listed and categorised.” Professor David Miller. “You are to be greatly commended for the watchdog role you are currently playing in rigorously scrutinising and critiquing these dubious and harmful practices by the British government. I am glad you are able to put the time, effort and expertise into such an important role.” Professor Richard Jackson, editor-in-chief of the journal Critical Studies on Terrorism. “This report raises important questions for psychologists. Most importantly, we are reminded that our psychological research can be used for purposes that it was not designed for; and that this can cause great harm.” Dr Leeda Blackwood.

Over the past five years, the Home Office and a secretive government department called RICU, the Research, Information and Communications Unit, has been cultivating a network of ‘grass roots’ Muslim voices to promote ‘counter-narratives’ to combat the appeal of ‘extremist narratives’ among Britain’s young people. All of this is taking place with no public debate or oversight. Working with top PR agencies and new media companies to target young people who fit the profile of ‘vulnerable young Muslim’, RICU’s interventions represent the first concerted foray into cyberspace by the British state with the aim of covertly engineering the thoughts of its citizens. In practice this means the chosen ‘grass roots’ organisations and ‘counter-narratives’ receive financial and technical support from the government for the production of their multimedia campaigns (videos, websites, podcasts, blogs etc.). These state-sponsored ‘counter narratives’ have in turn been promoted to specific groups of internet users, chosen on the basis of their demographics, the websites they visit, the social media accounts they ‘follow’, and the search terms they use. Note: The use of information from Persephone Rizvi’s LinkedIn profile in this report in no way indicates her knowledge of the connections between UmmahSonic, Breakthrough Media and the Home Office. Many of those working for such companies or projects like UmmahSonic are unaware of funding streams or links to the counter-terrorism establishment, which is why it is more important than ever to have transparency and accountability for any project that presents itself as being connected to the grassroots

The British government on the 1 July 2015 enforced a new statutory Prevent duty to stop individuals from being drawn into terrorism and extremism. CAGE’s experience in monitoring the operational implementation on PREVENT reveals that schools are referring children to PREVENT officers, or permitting children to be questioned on ideology, politics and religion without consent from parents or guardians. The schools involved in these cases have not sent letters home or called for consent from parents. It should be noted that the cases illustrated represent only a sample of the cases that have come to CAGE. In almost every single case involving children, consent is not obtained from parents or guardians. The following case based evidence demonstrates the operational implementation of PREVENT in educational institutions. The report is concluded by important recommendations for schools and PREVENT practitioners to consider.

<div class="field_c_p_img"> CAGE Directors commissioned an external review of its handling of the Mohammed Emwazi case and the subsequent <strong><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/cage-campaigners-put-under-spotlight-mohammed-emwazi-jihadi-john%20">media coverage</a></strong>. Communica were appointed to undertake this review. They were provided with all the material including confidential internal paperwork, interviews with key people, including an independent focus group and analysis of media reporting. The report concludes that: "the Emwazi affair was unique. It presented CAGE with an extremely pressurised and hostile situation, while also opening opportunities to advance its objectives." &nbsp; "Under these unique circumstances CAGE handled most things very well with the limited resources at their disposal. The Emwazi affair has been a steep learning curve for this young civil society organisation. Mistakes were made but these were due to inexperience and poor planning and communication. This allowed a hostile media easily to label and misrepresent CAGE in the way they did." &nbsp; "With a greater development of their work and values, combined with better management and training, CAGE will become even better at dealing with the media, communicating their messages and achieving their objectives." &nbsp; [fusion_button link="http://www.cage.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/External-Review-Mohammed-Emwazi-affair.pdf" title="" target="_self" link_attributes="" alignment="center" modal="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" color="default" button_gradient_top_color="" button_gradient_bottom_color="" button_gradient_top_color_hover="" button_gradient_bottom_color_hover="" accent_color="" accent_hover_color="" type="" bevel_color="" border_width="" size="large" stretch="no" shape="" icon="" icon_position="left" icon_divider="no" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" animation_offset=""]Download the report[/fusion_button] </div>

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.

This is some text inside of a div block.