Record number of over-60s are being referred to anti-terrorism scheme

Record numbers of over-60s are being referred to the Government's troubled anti-terrorism scheme, the Daily Mail can reveal today.

Home Office figures show 127 adults in their 60s or beyond were put on Prevent's radar in 2023/24 - the most since records began in 2016.

Of them, 43 had sparked alarm for expressing 'extreme right wing' views.

Extreme right wing ideologies 'can be broadly characterised as cultural nationalism, white nationalism and white supremacism', officials say. Guidance published online states they also use violence to further their aims.

Yet free speech campaigners fear that anyone critical of mass immigration might be being wrongly labelled an 'extremist'.