The controversial anti-extremism Prevent strategy is working and has protected scores of vulnerable Brummies from radicalisation, according to the council official responsible for the programme.

Waqar Ahmed, who has overseen the Prevent programme in Birmingham for a decade, has spoken out in its defence and highlighted the work of community and faith groups to tackle extremism - even though they get branded as Government stooges by critics.

He was reacting to a string of high profile criticism of the scheme that it brands innocent people as terror risks and fuels Islamophobia.

A recent Home Affairs Select Committee report called for it to be renamed ‘engage’

Mr Ahmed said: “It is naïve to think those who do not support the current brand will immediately rush to join the fight against terrorism and extremism the minute you change the name.”

Prime Minister Theresa May last year praised the work of Birmingham groups tackling extremism during a visit to the city.

Mr Ahmed highlighted the activity of the Faith Associates group who worked with 30 mosques in Birmingham to hand out 50,000 booklets to worshippers challenging ISIS views.

“KIKIT, a local substance misuse charity, works with 20 mosques across the city providing support around a range of vulnerabilities including radicalisation, and we have local activists who regularly come out and challenge extremist speakers online and on the streets who do so because they care. This sort of community engagement is replicated around the country.

“Is it any surprise in the current climate that three out of the four examples above were targeted as being government stooges or part of a government propaganda machine despite their ideas being their own and the projects being developed in their communities by them?”

Mohammed Nahin Ahmed, left, and Yusuf Zubair Sarwar, both 22, who admitted spending eight months in Syria fighting alongside an al Qaida-linked terrorist group.
Prevent was set up to stop the radicalisation of young Brummies like Mohammed Nahin Ahmed, left, and Yusuf Zubair Sarwar, both jailed for terrorism offences linked to al-Qaida.

He said that critics wilfully ignore the evidence from these groups to create suspicion of Prevent and added that a re-branding will do little to change that.

In a blog for the Huffington Post website he warned that tackling radicalisation will always be difficult.

“Engagement was difficult when the strategy was introduced, it is difficult today and it will still be difficult tomorrow.

Preventing radicalisation or extremism is not an easy task; it requires difficult conversations, strong leadership from all sides of government, communities, partners and wider civil society. When community groups do take a stand they are immediately targeted and accused of selling their communities out and their credibility questioned.”

Among critics of the scheme is campaign group UK Rights Watch which alleges that under Prevent children as young as four being identified as radicalisation risks. It claimed that schools are afraid to discuss terrorism in the class as a result - leaving youngsters to pick up unfiltered information online.

On the other side school inspector Ofsted has warned that many colleges were not doing enough to limit students access to extremist websites or monitor guest speakers.