Terror attack talks by children aged 13

EXTREMISTS: Teenagers as young as 13 are talking about committing terror attacks, the UK’s head of counter- terrorism policing has warned.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said the country faced a dramatic rise in the number of cases involving right- wing extremists, although Islamists were the main threat.

TEENAGERS AS young as 13 are talking about committing terror attacks, the UK’s head of counterterrorism policing has warned.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu was telling MPs about the terror threat the country faces – particularly describing a “dramatic” rise in the number of right- wing cases.

Speaking to the Commons Home Affairs Committee yesterday, he said: “What I am seeing, particularly in the right- wing terrorism space – and this is anecdotal so it is not academic – but an increase in lots of young people being attracted to this.

“We are seeing people as young as 13 starting to talk about committing terrorist attacks.”

They had a mixed ideology and for 38 per cent of referrals to the Prevent anti- radicalisation programme an ideology could not be determined, he said, adding: “They are just interested in violence.”

He said social media had been a strong influence, particularly during the coronavirus lockdown when there was “no other form of distraction or protective factor” like school, work or other friends and relatives present.

He added: “That’s definitely an effect of Covid- 19 we are worried about.”

Most terrorists were 30 or younger and male, he said, but added: “What has been disturbing is the number that are becoming

much younger. It’s still small. If I showed you the figures you would go, ‘ Well, that’s not much’.

“But the worrying thing is the trajectory is downwards in age terms.”

Mr Basu described the rise in right- wing terrorism and extremism as “pretty dramatic”, telling the committee the casework for this had risen from six per cent in 2016 to 10 per cent.

The majority continued to be Islamist, he said.

Last year he characterised it as the fastest- growing terror threat.

Police and security services had started to look more at the right- wing threat, he said, adding: “A near doubling of that threat since 2016 does worry me.”

In June, 19 per cent of Britain’s 243 terrorist prisoners were categorised as holding far right- wing ideologies, a rise of four percentage points in a year, according to Home Office figures.

The proportion of prisoners holding right- wing ideologies had risen steadily over the last three years, up from 33 to a record of 45 in the latest year, after just six were recorded in 2013.

Some 76 per cent ( 184) held extremist Islamist views.

Mr Basu said counter- terror police and MI5 had more than 800 terror investigations under way and a predicted 30 per cent rise in the threat since 2017 was “still there” and “sustained at that very high level”.

Describing the threat as “diverse, complex and unpredictable”, he said encryption on messaging services had made it “very difficult to see terrorists communicating”.

He also wanted more work to be done to address security measures at the 600,000 publicly accessible spaces around the country, amid fears they could be a target.

The worry is the trajectory is downwards in age terms. Neil Basu, Assistant Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police.