UK counterterror mental health project raises ethical concerns

A six-year-old is among thousands suspected of ‘extremism’ to have been assessed in hubs set up by counterterrorism police, medical charity says.

Thousands of people in the United Kingdom suspected of “extremism” – including a six-year-old – have had mental health assessments, often in the presence of police, as part of a scheme that blurs the line between “security and care”, a medical charity has claimed. Medact released its findings on Wednesday and called for the “secretive” programme set up by counterterrorism police, in which mental health professionals work alongside police officers, to be scrapped due to ethical concerns. The so-called Vulnerability Support Hubs were launched in southern, central and northern England as part of a pilot programme in 2016 and have since become an established part of the UK’s counterterrorism framework.