Parents will be able to have the passports of their teenage children canceled if they are at risk of joining the Islamic State or other Islamist terrorist groups. The measure is part of new "Counter-Extremism Strategy" being announced by David Cameron today. Other steps include: Preventing radical preachers from posting materials online. Barring anyone convicted of terrorist or extremist activity from working with children or other vulnerable people. The announcement comes a day after a £5 million ($7.7 m) fund was established to provide "credible alternative narratives to the dangerous views propagated by extremists." The money will go to fund a "national coalition" against radicalization, formed from local initiatives, charities and a Muslim newspaper putting out an anti-extremist message. Cameron first announced his anti-extremism strategy in a speech in June, when he pledged to fight both violent and non-violent extremism and to completely overhaul the government's approach to de-radicalization. In that speech, he became the first Western leader to pinpoint the ideology of Islamist extremism as the root cause of terrorism, distinct from, but related to, the religion of Islam. The British counter-extremism think tank the Quilliam Foundation, staffed primarily by former Islamist extremists who now challenge their former ideologies, advised the government on its new more direct policy. Approximately 700 British nationals have travelled to Syria or Iraq to fight for extremist groups such as the Islamic State.
