Rory Stewart: The UK could learn from Saudi Arabia about how to stop terrorists
3 February 2020, 14:31
The former Prisons Minister told LBC that the UK could learn about rehabilitation and de-radicalisation from countries like Saudi Arabia.
Rory Stewart, former Prisons Minister, told Shelagh Fogarty: "There are things we can improve straightaway.
"One of them is making sure we have much better intelligence and information on individuals."
He explained that would involve picking up on people more quickly when arrested and ensuring that criminals work with someone through the prisons system and through probation.
Mr Stewart said that this is done well throughout the world but "make a huge difference to make someone safe".
Shelagh Fogarty asked where it is done well.
The independent candidate for Mayor of London said: "The US tends to do it in a much more heavy-handed way.
"The Scandinavians have done good stuff on rehabilitation."
He then said: "Even countries like Saudi Arabia have had, with all their problems and it's in many ways an uncomfortable regime, but have done very good programmes on de-radicilisation."
He continued that it was about "training" and investing in making sure that imams in prisons had the right awareness and training to pick up on being radicalised in prison.
Separation centres for those radicalising others was also mentioned by Stewart.
