Editorial: Muddled Thinking About CS Lewis by Prevent Shows How the Anti Extremist Group Has Lost Its Way

Sparked by the news report that the UK Government has flagged fans of Narnia as potential 'right-wing extremists', the editors point out the obvious, that Prevent has lost the plot.

From the News Letter

By Editorial

For a glimpse of cultural confusion in the UK, look no further than the Prevent scheme.

This is part of a counter terror strategy that emerged 20 years ​ago when it became clear after Islamic extremist attacks first in America in 2001, then in Spain, Britain, France and Germany, and on westerners abroad.

Yet a coalition of naive people and apologists for Muslim hardliners contrived to find a supposedly greater ‘far right’ threat. In fact the very opposite has been the case. The backlash against Islamic extremism was minimal, reflecting the wisdom and generosity of western societies. People instinctively know that violent Muslim groups, while by far the most dangerous extremists, have little active support in Muslim communities and have only been able to inflict sporadic harm on society. There has been little support for white supremacists. thank goodness.

Prevent ignored that and referred for de-radicalisation more cases of right wing than Islamic extremism. Ian Acheson, a Northern Irish security expert who is an advisor at the Counter Terrorism Project, said: “Prevent has drifted away from being an essential part of our counter terror strategy.” We report today on how far Prevent has strayed from what should be its core focus. Reading the Ulsterman CS Lewis, a wonderful children’s author, academic and Christian advocate, is said potentially to be a sign of ‘far right’ tendencies.

Remember the attempts to taint Last Night of the Proms with slavery? Remember how Pastor James McConnell was put in the dock for an anti Islamic sermon after a complaint from an Iraqi man who claimed the mass murdering Islamic barbarians Isis brought peace to Mosul (a complaint magnified by a man who knew about real hate crime, Martin McGuinness)? With such muddled thinking prevailing across the UK, no wonder Prevent lost its way.