YP Comment: Extremism '“ and preventing the young radicals in Yorkshire

Yet, while this has not stopped radicalised teenagers and families leaving these shores to fight alongside Daesh – the so-called Islamic State – in Syria and Iraq, this work has helped spare Britain from further terrorist outrages.

However the growing threat posed by the far-right, as exemplified by the execution of Batley & Spen MP Jo Cox last June by the neo-Nazi Thomas Mair, is just as threatening to the liberty of the overwhelming majority of the population who have embraced multi-culturalism.

This is borne out by the extraordinary efforts that have been taken to neutralise a vulnerable 14-year-old from West Yorkshire whose demeaning and intolerant views of Muslims prompted officials from the anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent to intervene.

In a rare – and welcome – insight into their hitherto unseen work, they have worked tirelessly to challenge the troubled teenager’s entrenched views by putting him on a special programme intended to deter youngsters from being drawn into terrorism.

Not only has this pioneering scheme led to improvements in his academic attainment, but he’s now a volunteer at the community project where youngsters from different faiths can congregate in harmony.

What this one case clearly demonstrates, however, is the importance of early intervention when there is evidence of indoctrinated youngsters holding egregious views at odds with a civilised society – and programmes like Prevent having the resources to make a difference.

With Britain under threat from both the far-right and Islamist fundamentalists, its work has never been more important.

Scourge on society

IT is, of course, up to the discretion of individual councils if they utilise new powers intended to combat fly-tipping, one of the most thoughtless and senseless scourges on society.

Not only is dumped rubbish and litter a blot on the landscape in England’s ‘green and pleasant land’ immortalised by William Blake, but it is a poor advertisement for the areas concerned.

This is reflected by those local authorities which have raised more than £430,000 from on-the-spot fines – they believe, rightly, that a ‘zero tolerance’ approach is critical to changing attitudes and this mindset needs to be embraced by those councils that have blamed their passive response, and inaction, on Government budget cuts.

If they don’t act, their communities will become unofficial dumping grounds and the town halls concerned need to remember that street cleaning, and so on, is a key component of the council tax ‘contract’.

That said, members of the public have an important role to play as responsible citizens. If they see evidence of fly-tipping, they should report it to their local council – and town halls should make it easier for residents to report occurrences.

Equally it’s not too much to expect residents to pick up litter in their neighbourhood and discard it in their own dustbin. If people spent just a few minutes each week collecting discarded detritus, the selfish minority might just be shamed into changing their behaviour for the better. And there’s another dividend. If there’s more civic pride, councils won’t have to spend so much money on street cleaning.

On doctor’s orders

THOSE meddling health professionals who believe that GPs should be based in A&E departments to ease the pressure on hospitals clearly do not understand – or appreciate – the law of unintended consequences.

If this happens, the likelihood is more people will seek treatment at their local hospital at a time when doctors and nurses only want patients to turn up as a last resort because demand for beds remains unprecedented due to an ageing population.

Furthermore this ill-conceived remedy will mean even less family doctors on duty at health centres where residents have a right to expect appointments between 8am and 8pm on weekdays as well as a more robust out-of-hours service.

The sooner that NHS chiefs realise the fundamental flaws with the GP service, whether it be a shortage of doctors at some practices or some medical professionals being inflexible over their working hours, the quicker that new policy cures can be prescribed.