Prevent and ‘Fundamental British Values’: Policing British Muslims within and Outside the Education System.

Muslim communities are one of the most heavily policed and least protected in the UK (Tufail, 2015). Since the 9/11 attacks in the USA and the 7/7 bombings in the UK, the policing of Muslims has become normalised within the education system, from pre-school through to higher education (Yıldız, 2021). In response to these events, the UK government introduced its first comprehensive counterterrorism strategy, CONTEST, which includes four key areas: Prevent, Pursue, Protect, and Prepare. The 'Prevent' aspect focuses on the 'pre-crime' space, aiming to prevent individuals from becoming terrorists in the future. It is also known as the de-radicalisation programme.

Prevent places a duty on schools, colleges, and universities to ‘safeguard’ young people at risk of radicalisation, effectively making educational institutions the frontline of national security efforts. Teachers are tasked with identifying signs of 'extremism' and 'radicalisation' among students and reporting these concerns to the Prevent officer. One of the tools used to detect 'extremism' is assessing whether a student demonstrates opposition to 'fundamental British values,' which are defined within the Prevent strategy as part of the broader definition of extremism. The strategy defines extremism as:

"vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs" (HO, 2011).

Since 2007, thousands of young people have been identified as 'extremists' or 'radicals' and referred to the de-radicalisation programme, with the overwhelming majority coming from Muslim communities.

This paper will argue that Prevent and the concept of 'fundamental British values' are rooted in racism and represent an ‘acceptable’ form of 'othering' Muslims.