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EXCLUSIVE: Zarah Sultana invited to learn about Prevent after repeating false ‘Free Palestine’ claim

The Labour MP claimed that a Muslim teen had been referred to the counter terror programme for wearing a pro-Palestinian badge, which has been widely debunked

September 15, 2021 14:19
Zarah Sultana
1 min read

Labour MP Zarah Sultana has been invited into the Home Office to learn more about the work the government’s counter-extremism programme Prevent after she repeated a widely-debunked claim that a teenager had been referred to the scheme for wearing a ‘Free Palestine’ badge.

The invitation came after the Coventry South MP spoke at a Westminster Hall debate on Islamophobia last week, telling MPs about the “targeting of Muslims” and citing the case of a student referred to Prevent for expressing his support for Palestinians.

A senior source at the Home Office confirmed to the JC the story was not true and revealed an invitation had been issued to the MP to learn more about Prevent.

The programme was launched by the government in 2015 to combat the ideology of extremism and terrorism.   Ministers announced in January a programme review, to be led by William Shawcross.