UK Counter-Terrorism (merged thread)

[davidbfpo]

A Q&A with the UK's most senior police CT officer, the Met's Neil Basu, in 'Sentinel' CTC's e-journal, conducted by RUSI's Raffaello Pantucci.
Link:https://ctc.usma.edu/view-ct-foxhole...united-kingdom

A broad range in the Q&A and some answers are not "on message", notably about Prevent.

[davidbfpo]

A broad comment on the issues around returning foreign fighters by an "insider":

Ian Acheson led the independent review of Islamist extremism in prisons and probation ordered by then Justice Secretary Michael Gove in 2016

A classic example of how weak the UK CT approach is:

When I carried out my review of Islamist extremism for Government I was astonished to find that absolutely no thought had been given to forecasting the numbers of returning foreign fighters who might enter custody and how their special risks might be managed when they did. The expected surge hasn’t happened – yet – but the prison service is barely capable of maintaining order in our high security prisons, let alone accommodate a surge of combat-hardened Islamist terrorists.

Link:https://capx.co/how-to-deal-with-ret...isis-fighters/

[davidbfpo]

Yesterday Asst. Commissioner Mark Rowley, the National Co-ordinator of Terrorist Investigations, delivered a valedictory speech in London to Policy Exchange and he retires next month. There are numerous reports, some reflect his concerns and others identify his remarks on where public policy is lacking, notably whether radicalised families should retain their children.

A full transcript is available:https://policyexchange.org.uk/pxeven...y-mark-rowley/

The BBC highlighted this:

Islamist and right-wing extremism is reaching into our communities through sophisticated propaganda and subversive strategies creating and exploiting vulnerabilities that can ultimately lead to acts of violence and terrorism. "Ten conspiracies of an Islamist nature were stopped since the Westminster attack. "And I can tell you today that over the same period police have been able to prevent a further four extreme, right-wing inspired plots in the UK.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43200966

From the newspapers:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-a8229936.html and https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/26/four-far-right-plots-thwarted-last-year-says-counter-terrorism-chief-mark-rowley?

[davidbfpo]

This is now getting beyond a joke, if you accept a parliamentary report and the headline:

Let terrorists off jail because they may become more radicalised inside, say MPs

Why?

The Commons Justice Select Committee said it was making the call for leniency because counter-radicalisation work in jails was often “absent or inadequate”. As a result, the courts should consider whether a non-custodial sentence would be better than prison for rehabilitating the “lowest level” of terrorist offenders.

Link:https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/l...-a3776571.html


Given our existing experience and that from Northern Ireland surely politicians and bureaucrats have learnt that a CT strategy that pursues law enforcement cannot ignore what happens when imprisonment is used. Apparently not.