The Government announced that William Shawcross is to be the new Independent Reviewer of PREVENT. This comes as a devastating announcement to all those who had hoped for an independent and transparent review into the heavily criticised strategy that continues to negatively impact Muslims.

Sadly, we have no confidence in the credibility of any review directed by Mr Shawcross in light of his long history of Islamophobic views, particularly surrounding his tenure as the former director and trustee of the neoconservative and Islamophobic think-tank, the Henry Jackson Society (HJS). In 2012, whilst director of HJS, Shawcross asserted: “Europe and Islam are one of the greatest, most terrifying problems of our future. I think all European countries have vastly, very quickly growing Islamic populations”.

Meanwhile, when leading the Charity Commission it lost a number of legal battles after Shawcross was accused of presiding over a campaign of anti-Muslim attacks on Muslim charities and grassroots organisations. Therefore, it’s very difficult to have confidence in such an individual leading any kind of robust investigation capable of meaningful conclusions and recommendations.

We encourage our congregation to write to their local MP and express their concern regarding the appointment of Mr Shawcross.