Labour’s most senior Muslim politician today warned that London had been left vulnerable to terror attacks by the Government’s failure to stop radicalisation.
Sadiq Khan, the party’s mayoral candidate, singled out the anti-extremism strategy Prevent for particular criticism, saying it must be overhauled.
It comes after David Cameron suggested at a Tory rally last week that Mr Khan would not be tough enough against Islamist extremists to keep the capital safe.
He said ministers should promote greater social integration, work more closely with internet providers to close down extremist websites, and support mainstream Muslims to speak out and challenge extremists.
The Tooting MP, who has previously called on fellow Muslims to do more to root out “the cancer” of extremism, said he would make the fight against radicalisation a priority as mayor.
“The increase in radicalisation and extremism is the biggest security threat facing Londoners today,” he added.
“In the aftermath of the terrible Paris attacks we should be under no illusion that London is a target for the extremists. But Londoners are being left vulnerable by the Government’s failure to get to grips with radicalisation.”
He issued a direct challenge to David Cameron to overhaul the Prevent strategy. “For too long this Government have identified the problem but done nothing to fix it,” he said.
The Government’s strategy has faced criticism after several incidents where individuals who were on programmes went on to commit terror offences.
They include a 15-year-old boy from Blackburn who plotted a terrorist attack on Anzac Day in Australia and was sentenced to life in jail last year, with a minimum five-year term, and Brusthom Ziamani, 19, who was found guilty of plotting to behead a soldier.
Mr Khan described the Government’s cuts to funding for English as a second language courses as “extremely short-sighted”. The Prime Minister last week called for more Muslim women to learn English, but funding for ESOL classes has been cut by 35 per cent since 2009.
In a powerful speech last year, the Labour MP said most Britons had come across someone with extremist views at some point — and they should not “bury their heads in the sand” about the problem.
He referred to childhood friends who had gone on to hold extremist views “and even to act on them in terrible ways” and described how in his previous career as a lawyer, he had on occasion the “horrible” and “unpleasant” job of representing extremists.
In an interview with Business Insider website today, Mr Khan added that during his legal career he had represented some “unsavoury characters” but insisted that everybody was entitled to a good lawyer.