13- year- olds ‘ being tempted into terror’
CHILDREN as young as 13 are talking about committing terror attacks, the UK’s head of counter- terrorism policing warned yesterday.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu revealed teenagers are increasingly “being attracted” to far- right extremism.
He said the “amplification of extremism and its ability to incite a vulnerable section of society into terrorism is my greatest single fear”.
Mr Basu warned a growing number of extremists do not have an ideology and are only interested in violence.
Social media was a strong factor in online radicalisation, he said.
Mr Basu told MPs yesterday: “We are seeing people as young as 13 starting to talk about committing terrorist attacks.
“We are seeing people being mixed in their ideology. We don’t know whether it is Islamist, or right- wing, or left- wing, or incel... they are just interested in violence.”
He described the rise in right- wing terrorism and extremism as “pretty dramatic”, with the casework having risen from six per cent in 2016 to 10 per cent.
Sara Khan, the head of the Counter-Extremism Commission, warned that more children are expressing racist views at school.
Ms Khan told the Home Affairs Select Committee that the Government needs to seriously step up its efforts to curb terrorism, adding that some internet chatrooms used by extremists could be closed down.
She said: “Extremists have already exploited Covid.
“We know there are going to be huge unemployment rates, we know that local authorities are going to have to make massive cuts because they are going to be experiencing financial black holes, we are seeing increasing rates of violence – soaring hate crime rates. That climate is going to be very conducive to extremists and extremism.”
The Home Office last night confirmed a new bill will be presented to Parliament today outlining legal protections for spies and undercover police officers committing crimes to infiltrate gangs and terrorist groups.
The legislation will allow organisations such as MI5, police, the NCA, HMRC and the Serious Fraud Office to sanction agents to carry out “necessary and proportionate” offences.
Trust
A new power will be created to allow senior investigators to approve the covert action. It follows a long battle over the legality of Security Service guidelines used to permit covert sources to break the law.
Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, said: “In some situations, it is both necessary and proportionate to authorise agents to be involved in some managed level of criminal activity to win or maintain the trust of those intent on harming the UK and gain the critical information needed to save lives.
“This power, carefully used and independently overseen, is vital so we can continue to meet our duty to keep the public safe.”