By now, if you believe Britain has taken leave of its senses, you’re not alone. The government has decided that worrying about immigration or caring about British culture might make you a terrorist.
This gem of bureaucratic genius comes courtesy of the “Prevent” program, that once well-meaning initiative designed to stop actual terrorism, like bomb plots and people with a fondness for Kalashnikovs, now apparently more concerned with sniffing out your aunt’s Facebook posts about British bulldogs and Yorkshire pudding.
Prevent, for those lucky enough not to be familiar, is the UK’s flagship anti-extremism strategy. It was born in the post-9/11 panic and was originally tasked with steering vulnerable individuals away from radicalization.
What started as a good-faith attempt to stop kids from being lured into jihadist cults has since mutated into something far less noble: a state-sponsored snooping operation that now treats the phrase “too much immigration” like it’s a secret handshake for neo-Nazis.
The smoking gun is a government-hosted training module advising public sector workers, nurses, teachers, librarians, and probably the guy who does your recycling collection, that “cultural nationalism” should be seen as a potential marker for extreme right-wing terrorism.
Hellbound and Down 