A Government counter-extremism programme has “stigmatised and alienated” Muslims and undermined community cohesion projects, a report says today.

The Government’s Prevent strategy aims to address the root causes of radicalisation and protect vulnerable individuals. But a report by the Communities and Local Government committee found it had tainted many positive projects in communities.

Committee chairman Phyllis Starkey said: “We believe a targeted strategy must address the contemporary Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist threat, but we do not believe a Government department charged with promoting cohesive communities should take a leading role in this counter-terrorism initiative.

“Much of the positive work undertaken to promote community cohesion and curb social exclusion has been tainted by association with the counter-terrorism agenda. Any decision to widen the Prevent programme would only make this problem worse.”

The report said the majority of witnesses who provided evidence to the committee, including West-Yorkshire based think tank JUST said insufficient focus was put on forms of extremism stemming from Far Right politics.

The report said: “JUST argues the evidence of the bias and disproportionality in relation to the application of the Prevent programme is particularly evident when comparing the Government’s response to Irish terrorism and far-right extremism.

“Neither threats were accompanied by the overwhelming securitisation of public services, the burgeoning of the state security apparatus, the doubling in the number of intelligence officers and the attribution of the blame for extremism on all Irish or all White people in the way that Muslim communities have been maligned.”

Prevent was launched in 2007 by the Department for Communities and Local Government after the Government was criticised for not doing enough in the year after the July 2005 London bombings to prevent extremist behaviour.

The report said many Muslims feared the programme was an attempt to spy on them. The MPs called for ministers to investigate claims Prevent was being used by police and MI5 to gather intelligence on alleged radicals.

The misuse of terms such as “intelligence gathering” used in the programme had discredited the programme and led to distrust among Muslim groups, the committee said.

The DCLG said it was “disappointed” the report did not reflect changes made in the last year in response to criticisms of Prevent.

In recent months ministers have pointed to the increased role Prevent plays in targeting other forms of radicalism, such as far right Neo-Nazi groups.