The Government's Prevent programme seems to think so

Watching Yes Minister or The Thick Of It could be a sign of far-Right extremism, according to the Gorvenment’s anti-terror programme.

Staff at  the Prevent scheme compiled a list of films, TV programmes and books that could be warning signs of potential extremism - and included both BBC political comedies.

The catalogue, revealed by the Daily Mail, also included the 1955 war film The Dam Busters, 1984 by George Orwell, the BBC’s Great British Railway Journeys, presented by former Conservative minister Michael Portillo and The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare as possible ‘key texts’ for ‘white nationalists/supremacists’.

Right-leaning writer Douglas Murray obtained the full list and discovered that one of his books had been given a red flag by Prevent. He wrote in The Spectator: ‘A number of books are singled out, the possession or reading of which could point to severe wrongthink and therefore potential radicalisation

‘It seems that RICU [Prevent’s Research Information and Communications Unit ]  is so far off-track that it believes that books identifying the problem that it was itself set up to tackle are in fact a part of the problem.’

The list has emerged following a major review criticised the Prevent scheme by William Shawcross.

His report, published earlier this month, criticised the £49million-a-year scheme Prevent scheme, saying it applied  a ‘double standard’ to Islamist and far-Right threats, prioritising the later.

The report also mentioned  The Canterbury Tales, John le Carre’s spy trilogy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Sharpe, the ITV drama set in the Napoleonic wars.

Historian Andrew Roberts told the Mail: ‘This is truly extraordinary. This is the reading list of anyone who wants a civilised, liberal, cultured education. It includes some of the greatest works in the Western canon and in some cases – such as Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent – powerful critiques of terrorism’.

He added that many names on the list, such as Aldous Huxley and George Orwell ‘were all anti-totalitarian writers’.

The Home Office has accepted all 34 recommendations of William Shawcross's critical report into Prevent.

Published: 18 Feb 2023