CHAPTER 3: THREATS
(a)
the raising of the UK threat level in August 2014 from “substantial” back to
“severe” (where it had been for most of the period 2006-2011), meaning that
an attack is highly likely;
(b)
the 600 or so people with extremist connections to have travelled to Syria and
Iraq, some of whom have combat experience and terrorist-related training and
many of whom have already returned to the UK;
(c)
the “unprecedented quantity of terrorist and extremist propaganda” that is
fuelling terrorism;8
(d)
the continued threat from al-Qaida core, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and
al-Shabaab;
(e)
kidnap for ransom;
(f)
the advocating of attacks by lone operators; and
(g)
the continuing threat from Northern Ireland-related and far right terrorism.
678 people in Great Britain (i.e. the UK not including Northern Ireland) were charged
with, and 432 convicted of, terrorism-related offences between September 2001 and
September 2014. The figures for charge and convictions in the year to September
2014 are 77 and 26 respectively.9
3.14.
A more detailed account of the threat is contained in my own annual report (normally
published in July) on the operation of the Terrorism Acts: recent editions have given
details of the major terrorism prosecutions since 2000 and of the 30 Britons killed by
terrorism overseas between 2005 and 2013. While noting that Islamist terrorism has
afflicted a number of European countries, I expressed the view in 2013 that:
“.. the threat to the United Kingdom – as measured by the number of serious
plots since 2001 and over the past three years – is unfortunately more serious
than the threat to other parts of Europe. That deaths of UK nationals through
terrorism have not been more numerous owes something to luck ... and a great
deal to the capabilities of the intelligence agencies and police.” 10
3.15.
8
9
10
In its latest evidence to the Review, MI5 has pointed out some of the recent factors
which reinforce their concerns about the terrorist threat. Terrorist related arrests are
up 35% compared to 2010. The number who have travelled to Syria and undertaken
terrorist training since 2012 is already higher than has been seen in other 21st century
theatres, such as Pakistan/Afghanistan, East Africa and Yemen. The threat posed on
In his evidence of 13 January 2015 to Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee (HC 933), Rob
Wainwright, the Director General of Europol, described the aggressive and imaginative use of the
internet by terrorists for recruitment and propaganda as an important evolution, necessitating “a closer,
more productive relationship between law enforcement and the technological firms, and also the right
legislation in place to allow the security authorities to monitor suspected terrorist activity online”.
Home Office, Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation,
(March 2015).
D. Anderson, The Terrorism Acts in 2012, (July 2013), 2.8-2.26, 2.61; The Terrorism Acts in 2013,
(July 2014), 2.18 and 2.21.
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