British Prime Minister Calls for Reform of Counter-Extremism System

 

According to IRNA, Keir Starmer stated at a press conference in Downing Street (the British Prime Minister’s Office) today (Tuesday): “Terrorism has changed from its traditional form, which was led by organized groups with political goals, to acts of violence by lone individuals, outside the usual structures. These individuals are often inspired by online content and seek to attract attention and commit violence for the sake of violence.”

He added: “If the laws need to be changed to deal with this new threat, we will do so immediately and we will review the counter-extremism system.”

The Prime Minister’s comments came a day after 18-year-old Axel Rodakobana unexpectedly pleaded guilty in court to the murder of three young girls. He had previously been referred to the Prevent programme, which is designed to tackle extremism, three times. But it was claimed at the time that he did not need to take part in counselling classes.

Starmer called the incident a “serious mistake” and said: “This attack should be a turning point for a complete review of the way children are protected in the UK.” He announced that David Anderson had been appointed as the new commissioner of the Prevent programme, which will reform the system to take a more comprehensive approach to identifying threats.

 

Responding to criticism that details of Rodakobana’s case had not been released before the trial, the Prime Minister said: “Revealing the details would have invalidated the trial and the killer would have been released. My responsibility was to ensure that justice was served for the victims and their families.”

He stressed that the mistakes of government institutions must be investigated and prevented; to this end, the British Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has ordered an independent investigation into the incident.

The Prevent program, which has been implemented in recent years as the main tool for countering extremism in the UK, is designed to identify and prevent individuals from becoming extremists. However, recent attacks, including the Southport incident, indicate new and serious challenges in combating non-traditional threats that originate from the online space.

Often, plans to combat terrorism and extremism in the UK seek to limit religious minorities such as Muslims and increase pressure on the British Muslim community under trends such as Islamophobia, rather than seeking to solve a problem called terrorism.

In a book titled “Suspect: Countering Terrorism, Islam and the Security State,” Rizwan Saber has addressed the issue of Islamophobia in the context of countering terrorism well.