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COUNTER TERRORISM

Facing page: terror at

Glasgow Airport; one of the
slides used in an Operation
Griffin meeting. This page:
Griffin officials rammed
home their message by
linking Steps the band to
steps to treat poison attacks
The force is with you
The Big Issue in the North asked for details on how forces in its area that had signed up to Project
Griffin had delivered the programme. The responses varied widely.
Cheshire Police has held one awareness event. Greater Manchester Police runs training sessions
monthly for 42 months with an average of 20 attendees. Leeds-Bradford International Airport runs its
own Project Griffin training.
Both South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester forces, like East Midlands Airport, invited The Big Issue
in the North to attend a Project Griffin training session. In contrast Derbyshire and Northumbria said
they had no information to release despite the fact they are Project Griffin members, Merseyside Police
said it would cost too much to provide the information requested and Cumbria didn’t respond.

environmental groups, Irish republican splinter “If you have

“Terrorist plots occur across the UK,” he said. “It is
not just a London problem. If you have any
preconceptions of what a terrorist looks like, forget
it.”
Towersey also made clear that, while al-Qaeda was
the main threat, attacks could come from other
directions. He listed animal rights activists,
organisations and fathers’ rights groups as potential
sources. any precon-
Each force adapts the basic Project Griffin formula
for its own needs. Greater Manchester Police has a
ceptions of
Griffin training session booked in every month until what a terrorist
March next year. Delegates get information on, among
other things, city centre evacuation plans. Those who looks like,
have signed up can take part in monthly conference
calls with the force’s CTSAs to get the latest threat forget it.”
assessments.
Det Insp Andy Brown of Greater Manchester
Police’s Counter Terrorist Unit said: “We are
extremely pleased local security personnel have
pledged their support to Project Griffin. With their
help we can ensure Greater Manchester is a hostile
environment for terrorist activity and, in turn, a safer
place.”
At the airport, it was the turn of the army bomb
disposal team to give a talk on the kind of devices it

Is Prevent the cure? they see fit on Prevent programmes.

The government’s Prevent strategy is intended to tackle
the violent extremism that could lead to terrorism. But
critics say its emphasis on producing intelligence about
the Muslim community is counter-productive, writes
Phil Chamberlain, and damages race relations
Millions of pounds have been spent on a programme
aimed at preventing the radicalisation of young
Muslims – but question marks remain over its
effectiveness.
The Prevent programme was launched by the
government in the wake of the 7/7 bombings in 2005.
Aiming to challenge violent extremism, it is led by
the Department for Communities and Local
Government (DCLG) but has strong anti-terrorist
input from the Foreign Office, the Home Office’s low-
key Office for Security and Counter Terrorism and the
Research, Information and Communication Unit,
which is based in the Home Office but staffed by a
number of departments.
The DCLG has given grants to a number of local
authorities in conjunction with the police to spend as
Ostensibly it is a hearts and minds operation,
which aims to link with community groups and
schools. But a strong and controversial by-product is
the generation of intelligence about potential
extremists, which Muslim communities are
encouraged to share with the police.
Earlier this year Shami Chakrabarti, director of
human rights organisation Liberty, described it
bluntly as “the biggest spying programme in Britain
in modern times and an affront to civil liberties”.
In Manchester, one of the top ten recipients of
Prevent funding in the country, the council has been
working with the local police counter-terrorism unit
as well as voluntary organisations such as
Peacemaker, which was born of the 2001 Oldham
riots. Schools, prisons, probation service, mosques
and other organisations have all been drawn in.
Some of the money has gone on research to map the
Muslim and ethnic minority communities and
convene focus groups. One element involves
monitoring “new arrivals in the community”.
There have been a number of projects aimed at
young people, either through drama workshops in
schools or providing more sports and leisure
facilities. The University of Manchester has created a
Muslim Student Leadership scheme, to provide a
“safe” forum for debates. Several projects have
specifically targeted Muslim women, while an
informal network of mosques has been established.
Some 250 frontline council staff have been given

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