UK terrorism arrests hit 54 per cent increase

New figures show that the number of people arrested over terrorism-related offences in Britain has risen by 54 per cent to 400, the highest number since records began in 2001. Partly due to the 64 arrests connected to the attacks in London and Manchester, Andrew Parker, director general of MI5, said the ‘dramatic upshift in the threat this year’ was the ‘highest tempo I’ve seen in my 34-year career’. The quarterly Home Office bulletin on police use of counter terrorism powers shows that so far, 115 of the 400 people arrested have been charged, 213 were released without charge and 60 released on bail pending further investigation. The remainder faced alternative action. The number of terrorist prisoners in British jails has also risen in the past year to 213, 88 per cent of whom were found to hold Islamist extremist views. A further eight per cent are categorised as holding ‘rightwing ideologies’.