7.15pm, Thursday 13^th February 2014, at The Victoria, 48 John Bright Street, Birmingham B1 1BN.

The war against terrorism has moved away from its exclusive focus on the pursuit and arrest of suspected terrorists. CONTEST, the latest counter-terrorism strategy, advocates nationwide advice and support to ‘prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’. The Home Office recommends the deployment of special panels of care professionals offering packages of support to vulnerable individuals ‘at risk from radicalisation’ arising from feelings of injustice or the desire for political change. It points to individuals like Nick Reilly, who was diagnosed with an autistic spectrum condition and tried to bomb a Giraffe restaurant in 2008. 

Some see this multi-agency care approach as an Orwellian mental health route to social conformity; it is an uncomfortable reminder of the novel 1984, in which the Ministry of Love brainwashed Winston Smith into submission. Treatments under the COUNTER programme can extend to long-acting injectable anti-psychotic medication and hospital detentions. The strategy has led to 2,500 referrals since its introduction in 2007.

Can mental health interventions prevent mass killings by extremists and help individuals lead better lives? Or is the NHS sleepwalking into Soviet-style 'medicalisation' of political dissidents?

Raj Persaud, Consultant Psychiatrist, recently elected Fellow of University College London and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The Times newspaper recently placed him as one of the Top Twenty Mental Health Gurus in the world.

Mashud Ally, Assistant Director of Equalities and Human Resources, Birmingham City Council. Mashud's responsibilities include co-ordination of the council's response to the government's Preventing Violent Disorder (PVE) strategy.

Dr Vanessa Pupavac, senior lecturer at University of Nottingham in School of Politics and International Relations, with research on humanitarianism, human rights and therapeutic governance.
The debate is produced and chaired by Dr Jo Hurlow.

Recommended resources

BBC News reports on the deradicalisation of 500 terror suspects, 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21940899

Dr Raj Persaud discusses Anders Breivnik’s mental state with Dr Jeremy Coid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yavrvnacGfg

Dr Raj Persaud has written the following Huffington Post articles on this subject:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj-persaud/religious-converts-terrorism_b_3352369.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj-persaud/boston-bombings-psychological-research-_b_3128904.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj-persaud/does-pure-evil-exist_b_4134835.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj-persaud/ed-miliband-ralph-miliband-daily-mail-_b_4030729.html

The final 2011 Reith Lecture. Baroness Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller, former Director General of MI5, argues that 'not all terrorists are evil although their acts are. Nor are they all pathologically violent. 

A few are but many are not and have their own rationale'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0126d29

Home Office guidance, 2012.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/channel-guidance