London Mayor Announces Anti-Extremism Community-Focused Program for 2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced on Wednesday the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program for 2018 to tackle extremism from both the far-right and the terrorist groups like Daesh (banned in Russia), focused primarily on community-building.

"I am determined to do everything in my power to improve the work that safeguards the vulnerable and roots out and stops the people who are spreading vile ideologies and promoting terror with such violent and tragic consequences," Sadiq said, commenting on the program's launch.

The CVE program is aimed to engage Londoners in strengthening, integrating and empowering communities to speak out and challenge hate crime and extremist views, the mayor said, according to a press release.

READ MORE: Briton Jailed for 10 Years for Joining Daesh

According to the mayor's press service, the CVE program is part of the mayor’s work to improve London’s preparedness to respond to terrorism and is aimed to empower Londoners to speak out against extremism to help keep London safe. It will be supported with a 400,000 British pounds ($536,200) investment.

The United Kingdom has faced a number of terror attacks this year, most notably the attack on London's Westminster Bridge and parliament grounds in March, as well as the concert bombing in Manchester in May that left at least 22 people dead and almost 120 others wounded.

After a bombing in the London tube on September 15, which left dozens of people injured, the terror threat level was raised to critical, but has since been lowered to severe, the fourth out of the five terror threat levels.