East Lancashire scheme spots potential right wing extremists

Referrals made of children and young adults at risk of being radicalised

Parents, teachers, community leaders and police officers in East Lancashire are referring children and young adults who they feel may be at risk of being radicalised by groups.

Police said the ground-breaking counter-terrorism programme Channel has been adapted to take account of the rise in right wing extremism in the county.

Officers who run the project said they had redrafted programmes and guidance in response to the growth of right wing organisations.

Channel is a national safeguarding initiative for individuals considered vulnerable to recruitment by violent extremists. It is an early intervention strand of the Government’s counter-terrorism ‘Prevent’ strategy.

The Channel programme has recently been streamlined to bring together experts from all agencies in the county to sit on one panel every two months, giving a more consistent approach to the referrals they assess from across Lancashire.

Lancashire’s counter-terrorism exercise ACT (All Communities Together) Now, which was the first of its kind in the country in 2008, has also seen a shift in emphasis to include right-wing extremism scenarios.

Insp Bilal Mulla, Lancashire’s Channel co-ordinator, said: "Channel is not a tool for spying. It is making people understand there may be vulnerable people who are targeted by those with radical views who had a different agenda."

"It is not about criminalising people, it is early intervention before radicalisation."

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