Police to get greater powers to fight terrorist attack

Documents leaked to The Sunday Times have claimed that police and security services are to get more powers to stop terror attacks at an earlier stage.

Following a review of attacks in the UK, most notably in Manchester and London, the leaked papers say that a new anti-terror strategy suggests sharing information about suspects more widely. The necessary ‘step change’ in security work is a response to the fact that three of the five terrorist at the heart of the attacks last year were on the radar of security and intelligence services, but only one was under active MI5 investigation.

The papers say that counter-terrorism investigators will soon be able to warn other agencies about suspects being watched for extremist behaviour, notifying government departments, councils and local police forces before the suspects are deemed dangerous enough to be placed under MI5 surveillance.

This aids the plan’s intention to focus on ‘communities where the threat from terrorism and radicalisation is highest’, introducing longer prison terms for terror offences, as well as more intensive monitoring when people are released from jail.

Although the Home Office have yet to respond to the leak, it is widely believed that the plan will be published in the next few weeks.