The Liberal Democrats are to push an amendment to scrap the counter-extremism scheme Prevent and propose replacing the term “British values” with “universal democratic values” in any successor strategy.

Alastair Carmichael, the party’s home affairs spokesman, said the party had reached a point where it could no longer support the programme, which it worked to revise while in government and which the home affairs select committee said had become too toxic within communities to work effectively.

“Bluntly, there comes a point where even the most optimistic government minister has to be prepared to look at the evidence and say it’s not working, it’s not achieving what we set out to achieve and it’s counter-productive,” he said.

In particular, Carmichael said the party believed a continued emphasis on the term “British values” in a counter-extremism strategy had an adverse effect. “Every time I hear anybody talking about British values, my toes curl, because it’s not very British to talk about it,” he said.

“But what do we mean by British values? That these are values that are universal in Britain? Manifestly, that’s not the case, there are a range of different values. Or values that are unique to Britain? Again, that’s not the case.

“So what you are saying [is], here is something that defines us as British, and if you don’t share my view, somehow you are not completely British.”

The Lib Dems will pursue scrapping Prevent via a Lords amendment to the counter-extremism and safe-guarding bill. The programme, which began under the Labour government, targets people vulnerable to the influence of extremism, and places a statutory duty on schools, prisons, local authorities and NHS trusts to report concerns.

The long-delayed counter-extremism bill, intended to set out an agenda that is distinct but parallel to Prevent, was criticised in July by the joint committee on human rights, which found the core issues were too vague, including the phrases “non-violent extremism” and “British values”.

A motion to scrap Prevent will also be presented to the party conference in Brighton this weekend, proposing to replace it with a more community-focused strategy with “a more positive name such as Engage” – a proposal first made by the select committee report.

The strategy recommends removing absolute control over the policy from the Home Office and putting it within the remit of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The strategy recommends an open debate with extremists, rather than immediate criminalisation, and the promotion of credible grassroots voices, as well as recognition of the impact of UK foreign policy on certain communities.

“It is important for the government to engage with and explain to domestic communities who have links to affected areas why foreign intervention is supported by the UK – especially where this includes the involvement of British armed forces,” the proposal says.

Carmichael said the current strategy “still clings to the notion that people at desks in Whitehall know best … This is was always going to be particularly vulnerable to that. This is the point to draw the line and start again.”



The former Scottish secretary, who now holds the Lib Dems’ sole seat in Scotland, said it had to be recognised that people like himself did not have the credibility within minority communities to properly tackle radicalisation and extremism recruitment by hate preachers like Anjem Choudary.

“These people need to be tackled, marginalised and put in a proper context,” Carmichael said. “As a 51-year-old white man from the north of Scotland, I’m not necessarily the person to do that, for a late teens male who is susceptible to the messages of people like Choudary. Who are you going to listen to? It’s not going to be me.”

Carmichael said the party, which is languishing at about 8% in the opinion polls, knew the pledge to scrap Prevent would not win favourable “Daily Mail headlines”, but he hoped it would appeal to people who had once been the party’s core voters, particularly teachers and students.

“The NUS, NUT, teachers, who have been previously very receptive to a Liberal Democrat message – there are people to whom this will have a resonance. I hope it’s not quite as nakedly cynical as that, but we have a lot of work to do to claw back ground that we lost, and talking to various sectoral interests about things that they understand to be problematic is part of that.

“Do I think this will be the silver bullet to win us back 60 MPs? Possibly not. But it is important stuff, in a space not many people in politics are willing to occupy.”

The proposal is unlikely to have much traction with the Home Office, where Theresa May led an overhaul of the policy in 2011. That review led to one of the most bitter cabinet battles between David Cameron and his then deputy, Nick Clegg, who opposed any strategy predicated on the notion that non-violent extremism eventually incubates terrorism – a position Carmichael said the party still held.

Carmichael admitted it would be difficult for the new home secretary, Amber Rudd, to tackle the issue. “Are you prepared to take on the dinosaurs in your own party, the headline writers of the Daily Mail, and do the right thing that might seem kind of counter-intuitive … The jury’s out,” he said.

A Home Office spokesperson said they were committed to the programme. “Prevent is making a positive difference, we are working in partnership with local communities and grassroots organisations to challenge poisonous extremist narratives and safeguard our young people and our society. We now have more than 550,000 frontline public sector workers trained since 2011 to recognise the signs of radicalisation so that they know what steps to take.

“This has led to more than 1,000 people being supported through Channel, the voluntary, confidential programme for people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.”