Introduction

Abstract

CONTEST, which stands for COuNter-TErrorism STrategy (Omand, 2010, p. 86), is, as the name suggests, the UK government’s principal strategy to counter terrorism, with the purpose of reducing ‘the risks to the United Kingdom… from terrorism, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence’ (HM Government, 2011a, p. 6). This strategy has four principal workstreams: Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare, also referred to as the four Ps. This book focuses primarily on Prevent, a policy which aims to ‘stop people from becoming terrorist or supporting terrorism,’(HM Government, 2011a, p. 10) and argues that the innovative inclusion of Prevent within the already established institutional framework has caused tensions between government agencies and departments on both national and local levels. The book is structured around two key elements: (1) a policy analysis of the formulation of Prevent, which explores the potential conflicts and tensions between Prevent and Pursue — a police and security led workstream — which is discussed partially in Chapters 2 and 3 and all of Chapter 5; and (2) a study of the policy’s local implementation, which is discussed in Chapters 6 and 7. Throughout, the chapters consider the relationship between the national policy and its local delivery as well as the impact Prevent has had on Muslim communities in the UK.