Home Office ‘secretly funded boyband to tour Muslim communities singing anti-radicalisation songs’
The Home Office was secretly funding a boys’ band to tour Muslim parts of Britain and sing anti-radicalisation-themed songs, it has been revealed.
The British-American pop trio known as ‘Mr Meanor’ visited schools in the north of England in 2016.
At the time, the Islamic State terror group controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria, and hundreds of Britons had traveled to the Middle East to join the extremists.
Social media posts from the period document how the boy band performed to students in towns and cities including Sheffield, Manchester and Runcorn.
The posts also promote the charity single “Think About It”, which contains references to the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York in 2001 and the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005.
It was made public that the school tour was organized in partnership with The Tim Parry and Jonathan Ball Foundation for Peace, a charity based in Warrington.
But Politics Home website reported that this was part of a ‘secret’ Home Office initiative to deter potential Islamist extremists.
Financial records are said to reveal the charity received £400,000 in funding from the Home Office’s anti-terrorism program shortly before the tour.
This was tagged ‘Panther’ in accounts [programme]’ According to the website.
British-American pop trio known as ‘Mr Meanor’ visited schools in the north of England in 2016
Social media posts from the period document how the boy band performed to students in towns and cities including Sheffield, Manchester and Runcorn
It is said that former contractors’ LinkedIn posts show that the tour and campaign were organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Communications for the tour were reportedly handled by BreakThrough Media.
The firm was previously revealed to be the preferred contractor of the ‘propaganda’ arm of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU).
RICU documents from 2015 are said to show how BreakThrough Media worked with the Peace Foundation charity.
One of the schools Mr Meanor visited during his 2016 tour was reportedly Parrs Wood High School in Manchester.
A former pupil at the school is believed to have traveled to Syria in 2013.
The song ‘Think About It’ was released by Mr Meanor in 2016 and was written following the terrorist attacks in Paris.
It contains the lyrics: ‘I see these hashtags all night long, Turn on the TV and nothing else is true, More and more people don’t know how we sleep at night.
‘I hope we can live a worthwhile life, 9/11 changes the way we look at these things, People want to terrorize and 7/7 leaves more broken lives before our eyes.’
The Home Office is understood to be undertaking a range of activities aimed at reaching audiences who may be vulnerable to radicalisation.
It is not said that any members of Mr Meanor knew that they were being secretly funded.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘This campaign was run under the previous government and has now been stopped.’
The Tim Parry and Jonathan Ball Peace Foundation confirmed it was working with Prevent coordinators and said there was “nothing secret” about its funding.
It was stated that he was awarded a three-year grant by the Home Office in 2016 to bring his work to schools in northern England, as part of the ministry’s ‘counter-radicalisation’ strategy.
The Foundation added that it was approached by ‘Mr Meanor’ shortly after the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015 and joined his team for a two-week period to perform the band’s song ‘Think About It’.
It was stated that the male group was provided with accommodation and food by the Foundation during this period.
