Britain became ‘less hostile place for terrorists’ in 2017, admits new police chief
Extremists were able to launch a barrage of attacks in the UK because it was a “less hostile place for terrorists” in 2017, the head of counter-terror policing has admitted.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, who took over the post from Mark Rowley this
month, said security services had “raised the bar” since the Westminster attack triggered four months of bloodshed. “To say that there would not be another attack would be foolish,” he told The Independent. “But I am optimistic – I think we have an incredible machine in this country.”
It is a year since Islamist extremist Khalid Masood ploughed his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four victims before running towards Parliament and stabbing a police officer to death. Masood, a Muslim convert with a history of violent crime, was known to MI5 for links to Islamist networks but was not under active investigation or considered an imminent threat.
His rampage was the first attack claimed by Isis in Britain, shaking the country that had previously been spared the massacres carried out in France, Belgium and elsewhere. The assault was followed by the Manchester bombing on 22 May and the London Bridge attack on 3 June, both claimed by Isis, and the far-right Finsbury Park attack on 19 June. The attacks killed a total of 36 victims, injuring hundreds, and saw all perpetrators apart from Finsbury Park attacker Darren Osborne die.
Melissa Cochran, whose husband Kurt was killed in the Westminster attack, said she was thinking of other victims of the “terrible day”. “We all miss Kurt very much and speak of him often,” she added. “While I continue to grieve for my husband and all the victims of that day, I strive to move ahead and focus on my recovery, as well as honouring Kurt’s life by advocating love, forgiveness and peace.”
Inquests into the deaths of Mr Cochran, an American tourist, British mother Aysha Frade, Romanian architect Andreea Cristea, pensioner Leslie Rhodes and PC Keith Palmer are due to start in September. Patrick Maguire, a lawyer representing injured victims on behalf of Slater and Gordon, said Masood had changed their lives forever with his “despicable act of evil”.
“Many still face a daily struggle with their physical injuries that are unlikely to ever properly heal,” he added. “But what has blighted all of their lives are the mental scars from the horrors they experienced. The anniversary of this terrible day should be used to remember those who lost their lives and support those who survived with their recovery. We look forward to the inquest, when questions about how this atrocity was ever allowed to happen will hopefully be answered.”
Since the Westminster attack, a further 14 plots – 10 from Islamists and four by extreme the right wing – have been foiled, and terror arrests are averaging more than one a day. But the UK threat level remains at “severe”, meaning an attack is deemed highly likely, and the risk from both jihadi and far-right extremists continues to rise.
Mr Basu said police had worked to “break the momentum” of attacks, sparking successful efforts to disrupt fresh plots in the latter part of 2017. “People saw the bar had been lowered in this country and it was a less hostile place for terrorists,” he added. “I think we raised that bar again.”
The head of national counter-terror policing said the tempo of plots had increased to an unprecedented rate. “It is possible for attacks to get through, and we’ve seen that in the speed people are radicalised, the speed of which they plan and the speed they commit the crime,” he added. “It’s becoming harder to stop these things.”
Mr Basu cited changes including online radicalisation and encrypted communications among the challenges, after calling for members of the public to provide real-world information on suspicious behaviour, which he said remains a “valuable part of the jigsaw”.
A review by David Anderson QC, the former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, found security services missed opportunities to stop the Manchester and London Bridge attacks. But he concluded that neither MI5 nor the police had any reason to anticipate the Westminster attack. “You’re looking at someone [Masood] who is such a long way from the top of anyone’s grid that, frankly, it’s a bit difficult to see how they would have been easily stopped, whatever agencies had done,” Mr Anderson said
His review did not cover the Finsbury Park attack or Parsons Green bombing, in which a homemade device partly exploded on a District Line train in September. Ahmed Hassan, an Iraqi teenager who told immigration officials he underwent Isis training in his home country, had been reported to Prevent on at least two occasions. An internal probe into potential failings is ongoing.
“We are always concerned if we haven’t joined all of the dots,” Mr Basu said. “Over the course of the last five years 23 plots have been disrupted, all of which saved lives. We are good at this, we can always be better.”
The senior officer said it was a “prime objective” to have online propaganda removed using the CounterTerrorism Internet Referral Unit and by working with social media companies. And where potential extremists are caught viewing terrorist posts, police want to “take earlier action”. “We want to act as soon as possible,” Mr Basu said. “Sometimes that may stop more serious offences being detected, but we won’t take risks with public safety.” But he suggested that current punishments available for lower-level terror offences, like dissemination of terrorist publications and collecting information useful to someone planning an attack, are not sufficiently “robust”.
Many such cases see convicted terrorists imprisoned for fewer than five years, if at all, and the Parole Board raised concerns they could be further radicalised inside jail. The Sentencing Council has been consulting on new court guidelines, which are due to be announced this spring and could see longer prison terms for lower-level terror offences shown to be “more serious than previously perceived” by last year’s attacks.
MPs are to observe a minute’s silence to mark the anniversary of the Westminster attack at 9.33am, ahead of services in Parliament to remember those who were killed and injured.
“It was a sick and depraved attack on the streets of our capital,” Prime Minister Theresa May said. “But what I remember most is the exceptional bravery of our police and security services, who risked their lives to keep us safe.” Jeremy Corbyn said the atrocity would be remembered as “an attack on democracy within our society”.
Separate commemorations for all four attacks that struck London in 2017 have been announced by Mayor Sadiq Khan. Following consultation with victims’ families and survivors, the phrase “London United” will be projected onto the Houses of Parliament, and members of the public will be able to pay their respects at City Hall.