Over one hundred BABIES and TODDLERS referred to Prevent - including infants exposed to Islamist radicalism

Out of those 45 cases, 29 were over concerns they had been exposed to Islamist radicalisation, reports the Daily Mail.

In the same period, there were 91 referrals for children aged one and two over the same period, of which 67 concerned Islamism.

The names of 75 three-year-olds were handed over Prevent, including 54 for Islamist concerns.

Overall, all there were 388 referrals for children below school age over the eight-year period, showed the Home Office data.

In 2021 it emerged that a four-year-old boy had been referred to Prevent after talking about the video game Fortnite at his after-school club.

Prevent had been notified about the Muslim boy from the West Midlands two years earlier after he said his father had "guns and bombs in his shed."

However, transcripts of a conversation later revealed that he was talking about accessories used in the video game.

Nearly 1,800 cases of suspected far-ight extremism were referred to Prevent in the year to March, compared with just 870 cases of suspected Islamist extremism.

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said Prevent is "very ineffective" in dealing with political extremism and young people "fixated on violence" without a specific ideology.

It comes after a three-year review found that counter-terrorism measures including the law used to ban Palestine Action and Prevent are being used too widely.

The Independent Commission on UK Counter-Terrorism Law, Policy and Practice found that the current official definition of terrorism is too broad and “extends beyond acts of violence or serious threat, creating uncertainty and overreach in its application."

Speaking at the launch of the report at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) in London on Tuesday, Mr Grieve said "targeting Prevent and using it properly" was crucial.

The former chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee added: "There are people with extreme views who are not terrorists and part of the problem is that I don’t think they’re tackling that issue correctly."

Chairman of the commission Sir Declan Morgan KC said Prevent should focus on those who pose a "significant risk to public safety through potential terrorist activities, rather than those who express ideas judged to be extreme, albeit lawfully."

Sir Declan, a former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, added: "The needs of those where susceptibility to terrorism is not identified will be addressed by other agencies who would allocate specific responsibility for dealing with the case to an appropriate person.

"There is a need for clarity and certainty of which actions for which purposes cross into terrorism.

"Given the consequences for those held to be involved in terrorism, it is essential that the law is both accessible and foreseeable."

Officials have seen a surge in referrals to Prevent in the wake of the Southport murders and are expecting a record total this year.

Figures released last week showed there were 8,778 referrals of individuals to the anti-extremism scheme in 2024/25, up 27 per cent from 6,922 in the previous year, according to Home Office data.

The 3,287 referrals in January-March 2025 is the highest number in a single quarter since data began.

The commission said that those involved in potential terror plots against the UK are "increasingly younger and may be driven by complex mixes of ideology, grievance and personal vulnerability."

A Home Office spokesman said: "We thank the Independent Commission for their report, which is essential to ensuring our system continues to be fit for purpose.

"The UK has one of the most robust counter-terrorism frameworks in the world, and we continue to strengthen these to reflect the evolving nature of the threat.

"Prevent continues to play a vital role in this by stopping people from becoming terrorists, and has diverted close to 6,000 people away from violent ideologies.

"But we know there is further to go, which is why a number of recommendations from the Lessons for Prevent report have been immediately actioned, and its remit and effectiveness is consistently reviewed."