One terror suspect is arrested every day as threat rises

ONE terror suspect is being arrested every day as the threat from extremists reaches unprecedented levels.

Figures show the number held by counterterror police soared to a record 379 in the year to June – up from the 150 seized the year before.

Home Office data reveals 54 of the arrests were of suspected female extremists, the highest since records began in 2001.

A total of 57 suspects were detained in the wake of the four attacks in the UK between March and June. Twelve were held after the attack at Westminster Bridge.

Twenty three were detained in connection with the bombing at Manchester Arena and 21 arrested over the London Bridge atrocity.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism, said: ‘There is no doubt since March and the attacks in London and Manchester, we have seen a shift-change in momentum.

‘But while the terrorist threat has increased in recent months, so has our activity. That is reflected by this significant increase in arrests.

‘We’re taking every possible opportunity to disrupt terrorist activity, be it making arrests for terrorism offences, intervening where there are signs of radicalisation, or working with communities to prevent terrorists operating in their area.’

Last week, the senior officer warned that isolated communities were fuelling an unprecedented terror threat – with the main danger from Islamic State-inspired extremists ‘in our midst’.

Of those held in swoops by counter-terror police, a record 168 were Asian – up 45 per cent on the previous year. Statistics also show that the number of white terror suspects being arrested is at its highest for 15 years, with a jump of 92 per cent from 66 to 127.

The number held for suspected international terrorism, including those linked to Islamic State, rose 60 per cent from 184 to 294.

Arrests for ‘domestic’ terrorism – those not linked to any group based outside the UK – were five times higher, rising from ten to 52.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said the figures demonstrated a reaction to an ‘unprecedented period of terrorist activity’.

In the past four years, Britain’s stretched police have foiled 19 plots, including six in the past six months.

‘Shift-change in momentum’