Warning over pupils at risk of violent extremism

An alert has been sounded over the past three years that more than 1,100 schoolchildren and young adults are at risk of being drawn into violent extremism.

Setting out the Government's new strategy for combating radicalisation, the Home Secretary Theresa May promised a drive against the spread of hardline ideologies in universities, prisons and community groups as well as fresh measures to control their dissemination online.

Under the revised "Prevent" strategy, organisations applying for public funds will have to prove they espouse "mainstream British values" before they receive taxpayers' money. About 1,120 people had been referred to a Home Office programme launched in 2007 under which teachers and community leaders are encouraged to identify potential terrorists. Nearly 300 of those referred to police were aged under 16 – 55 were 11 or younger.