Theresa May’s most senior counter terrorism adviser has warned against portraying Muslim communities as “intrinsically extremist” just days after David Cameron said some were “quietly condoning” radicalisation.
Charles Farr, director general of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, said there was a “risk” of oversimplification given around 2.7 million Muslims live in Britain but just a few hundred had joined Isil in the Middle East.
Mr Farr knocked back suggestions the country was losing the online war against jihadists and suggested the government was keeping step with the waves of propaganda being uploaded by Islamist radicals.
The comments contrast with Mr Cameron’s keynote speech on radicalisation last week, when he toughened his rhetoric on the responsibilities Muslim leaders had to stamp out extremism.
Speaking at a Jewish News conference on Israel, Mr Farr warned of the dangers of playing up the numbers of Britons who have headed to the Middle East to join Isil. » | Ben Riley-Smith, Political Correspondent | Monday, June 22, 2015
