For all the talk of a Tory ‘war on woke Whitehall’, more examples just keep cropping up. In an article for Fathom Journal, Anna Stanley, a former civil servant, this week painted a vivid picture about the kind of counter-terrorist training which is being given to her colleagues. Stanley writes that she recently attended a Kings College London (KCL) course called ‘Issues in Countering Terrorism’.
It was, in her words, a ‘deeply, existentially depressing experience.’ Examples were reportedly cited on how such educational institutions are delivering what Stanley called ‘politically biased, anti-government training, amounting to indoctrination’. According to her the ‘overriding emphasis’ of the KCL course was that ‘Islamist extremism is exaggerated’ with right-wing extremism being given disproportionate weight. This, of course, is in direct conflict with the findings of William Shawcross, in the latest government commissioned review of its anti-radicalisation programme, Prevent. According to Stanley:
One lecturer derogatively described Shawcross as “the type of person who would say all current counter-terrorism professionals are woke…He is of that ilk.”
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in