The terror threat posed by Islamist extremists in Britain has increased because of events in the Middle East, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism has said.
Jonathan Hall KC highlighted the fact that the ringleader of the London bombings on July 7, 2005, which killed 52 people, was motivated by events in Palestine. He told Times Radio: “I think that the risk is now greater as a result of October [when Hamas attacked Israel].”
He said that his biggest concern was the threats to MPs from people online. “When you see last week, MPs literally scared to show [in parliament], apparently wanting to change their behaviour in parliament because of threats that they’ve been receiving … If those are done in order to affect the way in which the government acts and way parliamentarians operate, then actually that does begin to fall within the scope of terrorism and might even call for counterterrorism response.
“Now, I don’t think that’s really true of the marches. There have been incidents of disgraceful terrorism and … recently there have been a few convictions. But the real threat, it seems to me, seems to come more from the online space, where people really get away with saying all sorts of things because they think they can remain anonymous.
“I think terrorism has a role to play in here, which is democracy begins to be slightly threatened. I don’t want to overstate the point, but when they are beginning to change their behaviour in parliament and they are beginning to affect the way that democracy operates, that’s where you may require slightly stronger, investigative powers, and stronger response.”
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Three female politicians have been given taxpayer-funded bodyguards and cars amid growing concerns about MPs’ safety.
The women have had their security upgraded after a risk assessment was carried out with support from a secretive organisation tasked with providing protection for the most prominent members of the government and the royal family. They include representatives of the Conservative and Labour parties.
Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, has been working with the Home Office, the police and the parliamentary authorities to significantly enhance the safety and security of MPs.
As part of the overhaul, the royal and VIP executive committee, which is responsible for the security of the royal family as well as senior politicians including the prime minister and home secretary, has been brought in to help assess the threat to MPs.
