Introduction

In the previous chapter we explored the unique development of the British version of social cohesion as it became conceived and emerged as Community Cohesion. In this chapter we seek to provide a similar understanding of the emergence of counter-terrorism policies in Britain following the London bombings of 7 July 2005. In tracking this development we will again see that this particular policy did not emerge in a policy vacuum, but that rather it was developed within a framework shaped by past experiences of terrorism in the UK, and by other instances of civil crisis. Again, the centrality of Britain's Muslim populations to the specific shaping of this policy is outlined. The transition from the initial formulation of Prevent, in CONTEST I, to its reshaping, following the critical response to its early roll out, in CONTEST II, reflects the problematic nature of this policy. Recent government reports on the operation of Prevent provide a further basis for exploring the inherent difficulties that have emerged as Prevent has been implemented in the context of parallel Community Cohesion policies.

In order to place this policy process into a wider context the issue of the ways in which the terrorist threat comes to be popularly understood is explored, and the symbiotic relationships between the media, the government and terrorists is opened up for consideration. In a similar vein the relation between the specifics of counter-terrorism and the wider growth of perceived threats to security as a many headed problem is discussed through a brief exploration of the ‘securitisation’ of urban policy in general. Again, the intention is to place our understanding of the specifics of Prevent within a wider framework. The chapter closes with a discussion of the tension between security and civil freedoms and the significance of the assault on support for human rights principles for our understanding of both how the political process of putting Prevent in place, and evaluating its impact, has been shaped by these wider issues.

Emergence of British counter-terrorist policy post the London bombings

Hennessy (2007a) recounts that the British have been depicted as having the habit of going into major changes (such as accession to the European Economic Community in the 1970s and the Human Rights Act of the late 1990s) ‘as if under an anaesthetic’ and only much later do people comprehend the significance of the huge constitutional changes that have been introduced.