The FCO’s dubious Prevent grants

A few weeks ago I wrote for Coffee House welcoming the Government’s decision to scrap Prevent grants administered by local authorities. In that article, I cautioned that scrapping something should actually mean scrapping it, not just moving resources around. Today, the TaxPayers’ Alliance has released research showing that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) also distribute funds through Prevent. Again, money has gone to projects of questionable value in the fight against extremism, violent or non-violent.
 
One of the more dubious projects was a “mobile cinema for justice”. What’s worse is that it was administered by an American charity called the International Research and Exchanges Board. Why is that bad? Because they have a £38 million budget of their own, and the Foreign Office felt compelled to give them £22,000 for a project that – let’s face it – most taxpayers would find laughable.
 
Well-funded public bodies also received money from the FCO.