Labour must reverse years of political failure on extremism to stop it fuelling more disorder, violence and terrorism in Britain, leading figures have said.
Neil Basu, the former head of counter-terrorism policing, and Dame Sara Khan, previously the government’s counter-extremism tsar, warned that proposals unveiled last month would not be enough to address a toxic pool of hatred, conspiracy theories and “dangerous rhetoric” from high-profile figures including Elon Musk.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, last month announced increased funding for counter-terrorism police, plans to strengthen the Prevent counter-terrorism scheme and a new independent commissioner to oversee its effectiveness.
However, that role overlaps with the Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE), which was set up after the 2017 terrorist attacks, and the Observer understands a decision is yet to be made on the CCE’s future.
Khan, who led the commission from 2018 to 2021, welcomed Labour’s creation of an independent Prevent commissioner but said a separate body was still needed to counter extremism and related threats, including disinformation and conspiracy theories.
“Extremism is a societal problem and requires a societal response,” she said. “Trying to counter extremism through the lens of counter-terrorism and national security has to date been a futile, flawed and failed approach.”
Basu, who led UK counter-terrorism policing from 2018 to 2021, said Prevent does not have the capacity to tackle non-violent extremism, and a “coherent strategy” is needed.
“You have to look at the full spectrum from extremism to terrorism, or you’re never going to be able to understand the whole threat,” he added.
“Some people who are not terrorists are very good at creating terrorists, wittingly or unwittingly. When you’ve got people with very large online followings who are capable of generating extremism and the government isn’t doing anything, that is incredibly dangerous.”
Basu said an online storm being fuelled by Musk, the owner of X, over the response to grooming gangs in Britain had the potential to trigger violence, pointing to the 2017 Finsbury Park terrorist attack. Targeting Muslims, the perpetrator, Darren Osborne, drove his van into a crowd after a documentary on sexual exploitation in Rochdale was seized on by far-right influencers.
“The people claiming there is a cover-up of mass rape may not be designing their language to create a race war or a riot, but it can – we know it can,” Basu said. There are people out there who will take their message to commit violence … there will be another Darren Osborne out there.”
The retired Metropolitan police officer called Musk’s recent rhetoric on grooming gangs, migration and British politicians “dangerous”, warning that it could have a “real-world effect”.
The Commission for Countering Extremism warned in 2021 that radicalisers were “operating with impunity” online because of gaps between hate crime and anti-terrorism laws, and a lack of social media regulation.
But Conservative ministers did not formally respond to the report or implement its recommendations, and the CCE’s role has since shifted to an internal focus on government policy and training, and oversight of the Prevent programme.
The body was not appointed to carry out the “counter-extremism sprint” started by the Labour government in July, with the research instead being entrusted to Home Office civil servants. Commissioner Robin Simcox’s term is due to end this summer.
Khan said the CCE’s role had “changed dramatically” since her departure, with less focus on extremism that sits outside terrorism. “In my view this was a mistake,” she said. “The UK faces a threatening extremism landscape and our country is ill-equipped to prevent and respond to this evolving trend.
“The summer riots of 2024 demonstrated the involvement of extremist actors and groups, extremist narratives, disinformation and conspiracies. The failure to pre-empt and prevent such activity, both in the short and long term, evidences the continuing gaps within Whitehall.”
Basu said work against extremism had been hampered by a lack of political consensus and rows over several proposed definitions. “There’s no cross-party consensus on what extremism is, what freedom of speech is, what legitimate opinion is,” he added. “Until you end up with an accepted definition that could form the basis of legislation, you’re still going to have that lacuna which will let people like [Islamist preacher] Anjem Choudary and Tommy Robinson stay on the right side of the law.”
Basu said extremism would continue worsening unless the government comprehensively tackled issues including poverty and social deprivation that make people “easy prey for radicalisers”.
“This is a fundamental problem for generations to come, and you’ll never fix it from a law enforcement approach,” he added. “You’ll stop some plots, some will get through, it will happen for ever. It’s cyclical – it’s been going on for decades, it will keep on happening.”
Basu warned that, while the government plans to strengthen the Prevent counter-terrorism scheme, it can only deal with individuals being radicalised towards violence, rather than wider narratives and influencers. “Not all extremism is about terrorism – a lot of extremism is about polarised political views or social deprivation, and that’s not a security issue,” he added.
A Home Office spokesperson said further steps would be announced in due course. They added: “Our counter-extremism sprint has done vital work assessing the challenges facing our country and considering the right approach to tackling the modern threats we face, informed by the advice and experience of a number of expert bodies, including the CCE.”
