UK Counter-Terrorism (merged thread)

[davidbfpo]

Radical preacher Anjem Choudary has been jailed for five-and-a-half years for inviting support for the so-called Islamic State group....Both men were also sentenced to a notification order lasting 15 years, which requires them to tell police if details such as their address change.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37284199

Given the law on time served on remand and expected good behaviour The Guardian thinks:

Choudary will serve two years behind bars...

Link:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...upport-of-isis

[davidbfpo]

The about to retire lawyer, David Anderson, who is the Independent Reviewer of Counter-Terrorism Legislation, has commented on recent government legislation, the Investigative Powers Act (IPA), primarily on covert investigation (including "Big Brother" allegations) and a long awaited, draft bill on counter-extremism (undefined to date). In a BBC radio interview (28 mins):http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080t882

His views are summarised in this report:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-a7502431.html

At one point inthe BBC radio programme 'Prevent' is discussed by it's originator, Sir David Omand, who now expresses doubts; that it has gone too far (9.40-14.40).

Sir David Omand, an ex-GCHQ Director and other security roles, discussed on BBC radio the IPA with David Anderson and they gave the clearest explanation for bulk data collection I have heard ever (IPA covers not just phone and email links). Bulk data has been much criticised - in part aided by the Snowden allegations - and recently deemed illegal for many years by a specialist court in late 2016:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083r1jn

[AdamG]

David,

The BBC over here had a bit on one of your civilian programs last week, pushing the 'run/hide/report' immediate action drills.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/c...-run-hide-tell

Excellent site, in general.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organi...ecurity-office

[davidbfpo]

AdamG,

Some of the 'Plan' & 'Prepare' aspects of the UK's CT strategy are very good, but for obvious reasons are very London-centric or the big cities.

'Run/Hide/Report' advice is somewhat marred by the public practice of taking out their cell / mobile hones and filming the scene in front of them. At one recent incident the first emergency call was twelve minutes after the incident and the first film footage was uploaded in two minutes. Leaving aside the capacity to accept calls from the public (a common issue internationally).

[davidbfpo]

Prompted by the retirement soon of David Anderson, a commercial barrister (lawyer), who was appointed as the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation in 2011, Peter Oborne has written a comprehensive review of terrorism as if effects the UK primarily.

He ends with:

Nevertheless, for six years, David Anderson has been a voice of sanity and a force for good. He has brought intellectual clarity, moral courage, a sense of perspective and, perhaps above all, earned the trust of all sides.

Link:http://www.middleeasteye.net/essays/...rism-608161931

[davidbfpo]

A short parting speech (32 mins), which is worth listening to - in part as the historical setting is given:

Counter-terrorism as a field continues to present fundamental challenges not only to the rule of law and human rights, but also to systems of political accountability. In his lecture, David Anderson reflected on the development of UK counter-terrorism legislation from 2011 to 2017. He discussed the meaning of national security and consider the best structures for countering terrorism threats in a changing world.

Link:https://rusi.org/event/terrorism-and...nal-security-0

Then we have a retired senior CT police officer:

A former counter-terrorism chief has revealed that he lies awake worrying about a mass casualty attack in London, as he issued a new warning about the threat posed by radicalisation in prisons.Richard Walton, who led the Met’s anti-terror command until his retirement last year, said the danger of a marauding firearms attack in the capital was a “constant anxiety”’ to police and the intelligence services.
He also expressed concern about the potential ability of the large number of extremists in prison to radicalise vulnerable inmates and use their new criminal contacts to obtain guns.....are made in a BBC “drama-documentary” to be broadcast tomorrow. It depicts a fictional Islamic State-inspired plot, involving a drugs offender radicalised in prison by extremists, to carry out a firearms attack in the capital and shows the police attempts to foil the outrage.

Such an attack has been raised as a possibility since at least Mumbai in 2008, often by those who had just retired. For reasons yet to be fully explained radicalization activity in prisons is not a success story.
Link:http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime...-a3478831.html

[davidbfpo]

Professor Paul Rogers has a commentary on UK CT; the summary states:

The recent statement from the UK’s new Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation that the terrorist threat to the country is at its highest level since the 1970s raises at least three crucial questions that this briefing seeks to answer. Why is the apparent threat so high, and apparently rising, after 15 years of high-intensity ‘war’ against international terrorist groups? Why is the specific threat from Islamic State (IS) so substantial at present? Finally, and most overlooked, why is there such a disconnect between the intense war in Iraq and Syria and the perception of threat in the UK? As the Trump administration prepares a new, escalated strategy against IS, these questions matter more than ever for Trump’s closest allies.

Link:http://oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/pu..._terror_threat

Personally I suspect the public here will accept the approach taken at home and overseas - provided there is very limited "blow back". Killings on the scale seen in Belgium and France could easily end that acceptance, especially if those involved are returned "foreign fighters".