“Any death or injury resulting from terrorism is a tragedy, and the impact on survivors, witnesses and wider society is immeasurable. The terrorism risk we face today is rising and becoming harder to detect. This is why the transformational changes and vital partnerships set out in CONTEST 2023 will modernise our approach and make us all safer.
“The safety and security of our people is the leading duty of government; terrorism will not prevail.”
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman said this week as she tabled a refreshed approach to the evolving and enduring threat from terrorism as part of the CONTEST 2023 strategy review in Parliament.
According to the review, Islamist terrorism is currently the largest terrorist threat faced by the UK in volume, making up around three quarters of MI5’s caseload. Extreme Right-Wing terrorism almost exclusively represents the remaining threat.
Across ideologies, the threat is dominated by individuals or small groups acting outside of organised terrorist groups , making it harder to detect and investigate.
Building upon existing partnerships across government, policing and the intelligence agencies, as well as with the private sector, the public and other international partners, CONTEST 2023 sets out a clear vision for an agile, integrated and aligned approach. A collective and coordinated response will ensure all levers deployed against modern threats, the Home Office said.
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Some of the steps covered include:
· Fully operationalising the Counter Terrorism Operations Centre (CTOC), bringing together teams, data and technology to more efficiently and effectively identify, investigate and disrupt terrorists.
· Delivering William Shawcross’ Independent Review of Prevent and implementing the recommendations to help stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. This includes improvements to our ability to detect and counter radicalising influences which spread extremist ideology.
· Better connecting the counter-terrorism system with expertise in healthcare, education, social services and the criminal justice system, ensuring a broader range of interventions to divert people away from terrorism or mitigate the threat posed by a potential terrorist.
· Acting upon the findings of the Manchester Arena Inquiry to close vulnerabilities in our response to terrorist attacks.
· Implementing Martyn’s Law to ensure better protection for people in public places.
· Tackling terrorist exploitation of the internet through engagement with tech companies and delivering the Online Safety Bill.
· Deepening our international counter-terrorism partnerships, including the US, other Five Eyes members and our European partners, aligning our strategic approaches so that we can maximise the effectiveness of our capabilities and develop new ones to keep our people safe.
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly added: "Our approach to countering terrorist threats is having an impact. Alongside our allies, we have suppressed a great number of the most serious threats in the last five years.
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"We continue to adapt our approach to tackling the evolving and enduring threats. The UK will continue to work in close collaboration with key allies to tackle these new threats and keep our people safe."
*Info: CONTEST 2023