Cameron declares war on extremist preachers

The Cabinet level group, which will also bring in intelligence and police chiefs when needed, will focus on radical preachers who target potential recruits in jails, schools, colleges and mosques.

It will monitor trends in radicalisation and tackle “poisonous narratives”, No 10 said.

The group, which is expected to meet within weeks, will include David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Home Secretary Theresa May, Chancellor George Osborne, other key Cabinet ministers, Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe and Andrew Parker, the director general of the Security Service.

Downing Street said the group would focus on practical measures rather than getting bogged down in theoretical debates about Britishness and cultural values.

It will examine what powers can be used to clamp down on extremist activity including how to tackle hate preachers.

The Government wants work carried out to ensure religious leaders are not promoting extremist messages and wants mosque committees to be held to account for the choice of imams they make.

Ministers believe religious leaders who promote violence must be confronted “head on”, ideally through encouraging condemnation from groups that those vulnerable to radicalisation may listen to.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The police investigation is still under way into the vile murder in Woolwich, and there will need to be charges in court. Therefore we can’t speculate at this stage on what caused this horrific attack or what might have made a difference.

“But we welcome the Government’s task force on tackling extremism and will seek to support it. However, as well as the issues raised by the Prime Minister, the task force should also rethink the changes and reductions made in the Prevent strategy by Theresa May in 2011.

“Although the Home Secretary made strong promises in 2011, the Prevent programme appears to have lost momentum as a result, including less resources for police prevention work, and a significant reduction in the focus on integration since it was passed to the Communities department.

“Ministers should also use the task force to look again at the replacement of control orders by TPIMs, as the inability to relocate terror suspects outside London creates added pressure on the Met and the security service.

“They also need to reach agreement on communications data so it doesn’t become a political football. The challenges faced by the police with new technology should be addressed whilst protecting people’s freedoms.”

Home Affairs select committee chairman Keith Vaz said: “The Prime Minister’s initiative although welcome should not be a prelude to another policy review.

“What we need is the implementation of recommendations and decisions.

“The task force looks a bit like a Cabinet committee. It should instead include those who hold the key to solutions: the universities, the places of worship, communities and the search engines and internet providers. To ‘Prevent’ we must engage.”

Farooq Murad, the Muslim Council of Britain’s secretary general, said: “This has been a challenging week for all of us.

“The killers of Drummer Lee Rigby attempted to sow division amongst Britons through the propaganda of their deed. Yet in large numbers, British Muslims stood up and declared loudly and clearly that this murder was not in our name.

“It was natural for the Muslim Council of Britain to reflect that sentiment. It has always condemned terrorism and extremism in the strongest possible terms, and it will continue to do so.”

Mr Murad, who acknowledged it was a “thorny issue” for communities to tackle, added: “We acknowledge that there is a difficult conversation to be had about extremism and the role of our mosques and religious institutions.

“We have been here before. But a muddled discussion about what constitutes extremism over, say, social conservatism, or disagreement of foreign policy, will not assist us in our end goal: the prevention of future attacks.

“We call on all those concerned to establish the creative space necessary for this discussion to take place.”