Why has it taken so long to acknowledge Andrew Tate’s ‘teachings’ are a form of radicalisation?

The National Policing Statement 2024 on violence against women and girls, a collaborative report from the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council, makes for sobering reading. Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, the national lead for policing violence against women and girls, made the unusual step of calling out the influence of one individual – self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate – as a key driver behind the radicalisation of boys and young men. “We know that some of this is also linked to radicalisation of young people online, we know the influencers, Andrew Tate, the element of influencing particularly boys, is quite terrifying and that’s something that both the leads for counterterrorism in the country and ourselves from a violence against women and girls perspective are discussing,” she said. She is saying, however, that Tate’s reach and clout among boys and men is an important factor in understanding how to address the “national emergency” declared by home secretary Yvette Cooper and minister for safeguarding Jess Phillips, who has warned plans to tackle misogyny in schools could take up to 20 years to have an impact on society. Some worry that naming Tate’s influence as a significant contributory factor to the growing threat of violence faced by women and girls could prove counterproductive to the aims of the report.