Sharp rise in arrests of white terror suspects

More white terrorism suspects were arrested than those of Asian descent for the first time in a decade last year, figures show, adding to fears of an increase in far-right hate. Overall, there was a 22 per cent fall in terrorism arrests to 351 people, including 133 white and 129 recorded as Asian ethnic appearance. White suspects accounted for 38 per cent of terrorist-related arrests in the period – an increase of four per cent on the previous year. The proportion of arrested suspects who were of Asian appearance fell by seven percentage points to 37 per cent.

MORE white terrorism suspects have been arrested than those of Asian descent for the first time in a decade, figures show, adding to fears of an increase in far-right hate.

Overall, there was a 22 per cent fall in terrorism arrests last year to 351 people, including 133 white and 129 recorded as Asian ethnic appearance.

White suspects accounted for 38 per cent of terrorist-related arrests in the period – an increase of 4 per cent on the previous year. The proportion who were of Asian appearance fell by seven points to 37 per cent.

The Home Office report said: “This was the first time, since the year ending June 2005, that the proportion of white people arrested has exceeded the proportion of Asian people arrested.”

The figures showed that 234 arrests were registered in the “international” category. This covers suspected activity linked to or motivated by terrorist groups based outside the UK, such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Seventy-five were logged in the domestic bracket, which relates to cases where there is no connection to either Northern Ireland or international terrorism.

The Home Office said further breakdowns could not be provided but this section would include arrests relating to suspected far-right activity.

Total arrests fell by more than a fifth year-on-year, but police stressed this did not mean a reduced threat.

Officers said the fall was mainly due to a sharp rise in arrests following terrorist incidents in the previous reporting year. There were five attacks in the UK in 2017, but only one, the attempted Parsons Green bombing, in the period covered by the latest statistics. Security agencies say they are carrying out an unprecedented 650-plus “active” terrorism investigations.

Dean Haydon, the Met deputy assistant commissioner and counter-terrorism police senior national co-ordinator, said: “We may have seen a reduction in the number of arrests in the last 12 months but we should put that in context by saying that we prevented 13 Islamist-related and four extreme Right-wing plots since March 2017, so it certainly doesn’t indicate a reduction in the threat we all face from terrorism. The step-change in terrorist activity is matched only by an increased effort from police and security services.”

Of the 351 arrests, 120 resulted in a charge – of which 92 were terrorismrelated – 184 people were released without charge, 29 were released on bail pending further investigation, and 18 faced “alternative action”.

Ben Wallace, the security minister, said: “Our police, security services and the wider criminal justice system work tirelessly to keep us safe from the threat we face from terrorism. Intervening early is central to our strengthened counter-terrorism strategy and we are introducing new laws to give the police powers to keep this country safe.”