The Yorkshire Post says: Javid's mission. Stepping up fight against extremism

THE FIRST Asian to hold one of the so-called '˜great offices of state', Home Secretary Sajid Javid is justifiably proud of his upbringing in the north of England before a successful career in business and then politics.
Sajid Javid is setting out a new counter-terrorism strategy.Sajid Javid is setting out a new counter-terrorism strategy.
Sajid Javid is setting out a new counter-terrorism strategy.

Yet, while he and his family are exemplars of integration at its very best, Mr Javid will be only too aware of the weekend warnings that Britain faces a severe threat from Islamist terrorism for at least another two years.

It’s why the first anniversary of the London Bridge and Borough Market terror attacks coincided with the Cabinet minister setting out the Government’s new counter-terrorism strategy following a major review of powers.

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Given the Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi was a “closed subject of interest” at the time of his deadly attack in May last year, it makes sense, at face value, for intelligence to be shared more widely.

However Mr Javid needs to be aware that the sheer volume of information offers no guarantee of preventing future assaults on Britain’s values – even the best equipped security services in the world might struggle.

As such, it’s also important that there’s a renewed commitment to look again at the effectiveness of policies, like Prevent, which are designed to counter the radicalisation of extremists in the first instance. Though the overwhelming majority of young Muslims are upstanding members of the community and respect this country, a tony minority do hold views that are incompatible with contemporary society and this needs to be Mr Javid’s focus if he is to make Britain safer for all.