Braverman backs Douglas Murray

Stop the presses: common sense has broken out in parliament. On Thursday, Suella Braverman delivered an update on the anti-terror programme Prevent, following a review into its effectiveness by Sir William Shawcross in February. Among Shawcross’s findings was his criticism about Prevent’s work on supposed ‘right-wing extremism’.

An analysis done by Prevent’s ‘Research Information and Communications Unit’ (RICU) in 2019 investigated social media users described as ‘actively patriotic and proud’ – gasp! – with warning signs including those who absorbed information or opinions from ‘pro-Brexit and centre-right commentators’. These included Jacob Rees-Mogg, Melanie Phillips and The Spectator’s own Rod Liddle and Douglas Murray, who wrote about the surreal experience here.

So Mr S was gladdened to hear the Home Secretary tell the House of Commons the following:

I accepted the review’s recommendation for thresholds to be reset to ensure proportionality across all extremist ideologies. RICU, the Research, Information and Communications Unit, which provides analytical and analysis products on behalf of the Home Office, was identified by Sir William as a concern.