Far-right radicalisation and racism warning in Darlington

Councillor Nick Wallis said a local school had reported racism coming from parents or carers, while anti-Muslim and far-right rhetoric was also "commonplace" on some local Facebook groups.

His comments came as a council report said it had not identified a disproportionate number of children and young people being considered through the Prevent and Channel process.

The report said the number of children and young people involved was "very small", meaning detailed figures and individual cases had not been disclosed to protect their anonymity.

But Cllr Wallis, cabinet member for children and young people, said the low numbers should not obscure concerns about far-right extremism.

He told a scrutiny meeting: “Schools are very clear that it is coming from parents or carers and you only have to look online at some local sites on Facebook where anti-Muslim and far-right rhetoric is commonplace.

“We have almost normalised it as a society.”

Cllr Wallis said research showed racist attitudes among parents or carers could increase a child's vulnerability to far-right radicalisation.

“These children absorb the attitudes of parents and other family members,” he said.

“While the numbers in Darlington are very small - that’s reassuring - bubbling below the surface, there is a real issue with far-right radicalisation. It absolutely isn’t acceptable.”

Prevent forms part of the government's counter-terrorism strategy and aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The report to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee said the local approach was based on early intervention and safeguarding.

It said detailed figures had not been published because the small number of cases could make individual children, young people or families identifiable.

Cllr Wallis added that the low number of cases was reassuring but argued that the underlying concerns should not be ignored.