Keir Starmer’s plans are being heavily criticised (Image: Getty)
MI5 and counter-terrorism police will be “overwhelmed” if Sir Keir Starmer expands the definition of terrorism, a watchdog chief has revealed.
Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, warned that football hooligans and criminal gangs could technically be classed as terrorists under Sir Keir’s plans.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty on Monday to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, in July.
And Prime Minister Sir on Tuesday announced a review of the law to address a “new and dangerous threat [involving] acts of extreme violence perpetrated by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms. Fixated on extreme violence seemingly for its own sake.” Violent “psychopaths” fantasising about committing atrocities could revel in being labelled terrorists, Sir Keir was told.
Axel Rudakubana, 18 (Image: PA)
Mr Hall insisted he would “keep an open mind”, but suggested such a move would be “expanding the definition too much”.
He said: “The PM talked about whether we should have a new sort of terrorism where violence is used to terrorise.
“But it’s quite hard to create a barrier, if that is the new criterion, between real terrorism and stuff that is not.
“For example, football hooliganism will terrorise people, criminal gangs will terrorise, arguably domestic violence terrorises, and, if I were a moth in Lucy Letby’s ward, I would be terrorised.”
Arguing that the point of a new definition would be to “unleash pre-crime offences that allow police to intervene early”, he added this would only be possible with adequate resources.
He said: “Police and MI5 are focusing on the existing terror threat and the huge increase in state threat activity which now takes a significant amount of their time.
“They would be overwhelmed.”
Rudakubana, who is due to be sentenced on Thursday for offences including the murder of three young girls, is said to have been fascinated by violence “for its own sake” rather than possessing the clear ideology that current laws require for an act to be considered terrorism.
That lack of an ideology meant he did not fit the criteria for the counter-extremism Prevent programme, despite being referred to it three times amid concerns over his fixation with violence.
Former head of counter-terrorism policing Neil Basu said: “We’d already seen a growth of what we were seeing as people with no ideologies, so they’re not terrorists, they’re violent individuals.
“And we’ve always had violent people doing violent things, but they’re using any ideology as an excuse for their violent actions. And we were seeing an increase in that number and they were getting younger – and it would’ve been easier to charge them under counter-terrorism [laws].
“When we asked for it then, I don’t think we were thinking about the consequences of what that might be.”
When asked to explain why he changed his mind on the issue, he said: “One of the main things is, these are violent people often with violent or sociopathic or psychopathic thoughts – if we are going to include a definition of terrorism to include them, some of these people are going to revel in that.
“It took us a long time to ask the media not to use the expression lone wolves, because lone-actor terrorists/self-initiating terrorists, as we tried to change the language, really love that – it glorifies them, and that’s what a lot of them are looking for.”
Dr Alan Mendoza, Chief Executive of the Henry Jackson Society, said: “There are always lone-wolf terrorists.
“For something to be terrorism, it essentially has to have a political intent behind it.
“A message has to come out.
“We don’t know what message he was trying to convey here. To call it terrorism, and say that’s the answer, we must highlight it as terrorism, how would this have stopped anything from happening?
“He was referred to the terrorism programme and they said he didn’t meet the criteria. Arguably he wouldn’t have met the criteria had we called it terrorism either.
“What was clearly wrong was that there was evidence of a violent person out there, who had exhibited tendencies to cause violence and be happy to do it, and he wasn’t picked up by anyone.
“What is going on in these programmes, what is the bar for you to be arrested for something?”
Sir said that “fundamental change” was needed in how the public are protected in the wake of the Southport attack last summer.
Speaking at the beginning of Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said: “The senseless, barbaric murder of three young girls in Southport was devastating.
“A measure of justice has been done, but for the victims, the injured and the affected we must see a fundamental change in how Britain protects its citizens and its children.
“As part of the public inquiry, we will not let any institution deflect from their failings.”
Shadow Security Minister Alicia Kearns said: “If really believes depraved individuals thirsty for violence desperately seeking a cause to justify their fantasies is a new phenomenon, he is worryingly mistaken.
“Self-radicalisation to vindicate a thirst for violence is not new, nor is the internet providing a breeding ground for violence-seeking loners. Everyone else knows this; the security services have been clear about these threats. I’m concerned Labour doesn’t appear to.”
Barrister David Anderson, an independent of the House of Lords, has been appointed to lead a review of Prevent, with Ministers pledging it will ask questions “unburdened by cultural or institutional sensitivities and driven only by the pursuit of justice”.
However are calling for it to be upgraded to a statutory inquiry, which would have the power to compel witnesses to give evidence, and say it must look at the government, police and prosecution service response to the murders.
Rudakubana further pleaded guilty to charges of producing chemical poison ricin and possessing an Al Qaeda training manual, while it has emerged that he was referred to the government’s counter-terrorism Prevent programme three times between 2019 and 2021.However police investigating the killings said they were not treating them as terror-related and the Prime Minister is now battling claims that the Government or police were involved in a “cover up”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was “deeply disturbed” by the number of cases “involving teenagers drawn into extremism, serious violence and terrorism”.
She revealed: “There has been a three-fold increase in under-18s investigated for involvement in terrorism in just three years.
“162 people were referred to Prevent last year for concerns relating to school massacres.”
And the Home Secretary said she would tackle online knife sales after Rudakubana was “easily able” to buy a knife on Amazon.
She said: “That’s a total disgrace and it must change”.
Mr Philp said: “The inquiry will find out I hope whether mistakes were made and whether the law needs to change.”