We attended a session on 24 November with Charles Farr, Director General for the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism, who discussed the Prevent and Channel programmes and took questions from the audience. Both Muslim and Jewish members of the audience expressed concern regarding rising levels of hate crime in the UK and asked for more Government work on that. Additionally, Mr. Farr was challenged as to how he is making sure that Government policies are inclusive, do not promote Islamophobia, and consult adequately with Muslim organisations and communities. Mr. Farr admitted to many lacking elements of the Prevent programme yet made no direct promises to work to change anything. He did, however, strongly insist that Government was working strongly to reject the narrative that it is targeting 'Muslims', saying instead that they are countering radicalisation which is rejected by all faiths.
