Police are overwhelmed with hovering stories of extremism however lack the assets or authorized powers to maintain the general public protected. Authorities “cannot cope” with the file variety of stories to the Government’s official anti-terror scheme, senior officers warn. But additionally they highlighted a “gap” in present laws, which provides police powerful powers to combat terrorism however to not fight different “extremist” materials that encourages violence.
The warnings have been issued by Laurence Taylor, Assistant Commissioner on the Metropolitan Police, and Paul Giannasi, Hate Crime Policy Lead on the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Home Office figures final week confirmed 8,517 folks within the 12 months to March 2025 have been referred to the Prevent Programme, which targets folks believed to be susceptible to changing into terrorists. This is the best determine recorded, however Mr Taylor stated: “We are projecting more than 10,000 referrals this year. That is just into Prevent, which is one part of the system, and that part of the system cannot cope with that volume of referrals.”
He added: “The system is not built to deal with this volume of demand.”
And Mr Taylor has warned MPs that “really clear” laws outlawing the promotion of terrorism solely coated actions that concerned an ideology or try to affect authorities. By distinction, police had very restricted powers to take care of “extremist” materials that may endorse violence however did match the definition of terrorism.
He stated: “There is a gap in legislation and everything else to deal with extremism. That makes it very difficult for law enforcement, because we do not have the powers and levers to deal with that central space.”
Giving an instance, he highlighted a online game based mostly on a 2019 mass capturing in Christchurch, New Zealand, the place Muslims have been focused and 51 folks have been killed. Mr Taylor stated: “We have seen sites where the attack in Christchurch is now a game and you can go and commit the 51 murders online. That is not an illegal thing to do. Children are playing those games and that is creating a mindset.”
He added: “There is nothing that allows us to intervene, from a legal perspective, in that extremist space, unless it becomes a hate crime or it tips a very high threshold into terrorism.”
There had been an enormous improve within the quantity of extremist materials on-line reported to the police, he stated, with the quantity on target to achieve 40,000 annually.
But anti-terror police have been typically compelled to refer incidents to different organisations resembling native forces, colleges or councils, which aren’t outfitted to take care of the issue.
Mr Taylor stated: “They are cases where we have said, ‘this is not a terrorist threat; we do not believe this person is vulnerable to terrorism. But we do believe there are interventions needed.’ My concern at the moment is that the system is unable to fulfil that demand.”
Mr Giannasi advised the Commons Home Affairs Committee that international international locations have been intentionally distributing extremist materials to “destabilise” the UK. He highlighted “foreign state bad actors, or foreign country bad actors, whether they are state or ideologically driven, who are trying to divide and destabilise our communities by, for instance, circulating historical photographs of acid attacks and claiming they are new attacks, and calling for people to take to the streets to defend their community, building on genuine fear to try to promote a breakdown of society.”
It was not sensible to stop folks utilizing the Internet solely however laws may prohibit folks’s entry, he stated.
“There are still things that could be done, such as controlling people’s actions by not having an anonymous persona on social media, not being on certain platforms or not carrying out certain behaviour. Having that as part of a criminal justice response might be a useful tool to have.”
Security Minister Dan Jarvis stated: “We must direct people away from the dangerous path of radicalisation – whether it be Islamist ideology, Extreme Right-Wing or those seeking mass violence.
“Prevent has diverted 6,000 people away from violent ideologies, stopping terrorists, keeping our streets and country safe.”
The Home Office says police have a variety of instruments to counter the actions of extremists, together with Counter-Terrorism, hate crime, public order and wider public security laws.
The authorities additionally has powers to disrupt the exercise of extremist teams and people, even when they aren’t breaking the regulation. For instance, it will possibly refuse visa functions for folks whose entry to the UK is deemed non-conducive to the general public good.
Online recreation providers that permit gamers to work together with one another or to share person generated content material are required to adjust to duties within the Online Safety Act to maintain their customers protected from unlawful content material and from content material that’s dangerous to youngsters.
In October, 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie was shot lifeless after he launched a knife assault on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, whereas carrying what gave the impression to be a suicide belt.
Worshippers Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby have been killed.
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was sentenced to a minimal of 52 years for the murders in 2024 of Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9. He was additionally convicted of 10 counts of tried homicide, considered one of producing the organic toxin ricin and considered one of possession of an Al Qaeda coaching handbook, an offence beneath the Terrorism Act.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/2131157/police-cant-keep-public-safe