The UK Home Office covertly financed an obscure boyband, Mr Meanor, to perform anti-radicalisation songs across parts of the country, targeting young people in Muslim communities. The group, featuring singers from Essex and Los Angeles, toured northern English schools in 2016, including in Burnley, South Manchester, Leeds, and Blackburn, aiming to deter youth from extremist ideologies.
One of the visited schools had previously seen a student join ISIS, highlighting the campaign’s focus on vulnerable areas. Mr Meanor released a song in support of the Warrington-based Foundation for Peace, a charity established by families affected by an IRA bombing in the 1990s. The charity received £400,000 in funding from the Prevent programme shortly before the band’s school tour.
Mr Meanor presented the song to Foundation for Peace’s CEO, Nick Taylor, who arranged the school visits. However, leaked LinkedIn posts from former contractors indicate the Home Office itself organised the tour, according to reports from Politics Home.
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A Home Office spokesperson confirmed the campaign was initiated by the previous government and has since been discontinued. They added the efforts were designed alongside partners to engage audiences at risk of radicalisation.
The band’s song “Think About It,” written after the 2015 Paris terror attacks that claimed 130 lives, formed a central part of the campaign. Documents from the Home Office’s covert Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) reveal that BreakThrough Media, responsible for the tour’s communications, worked closely with RICU.
BreakThrough Media has previously operated a social media channel called “This is Woke,” targeting young Muslim women on behalf of the Home Office. A former Home Office official told Politics Home that other RICU campaigns focused on diverse issues including the far-right and illegal channel crossings.
There is no evidence to suggest that Mr Meanor band members were aware of the government funding or involvement behind their tour.