33 rightwing extremists held under anti-terror laws

New Home Office figures show that 33 rightwing extremists were held under anti-terror laws last year, marking a steady rise which coincided with another decrease in the number of Islamist extremists detained.

The statistics compare with the 28, 10 and six people from a suspected far-right background who were detained in previous years. By comparison, the number of suspected Islamist extremists being held peaked in the 12 months to the end of June 2017, when 185 people believed to have Islamist extremist ideologies were in custody in prison and on remand for a terror-related offence. It dropped to 178 last year, and 171 in the 12 months to the end of June this year.

Overall, there were were 266 arrests for suspected terrorism-related activity in the last year, down from 354 in the previous 12 months, in what is a continuation of a downward trend.

The Home Office has been accused of not taking the far-right threat seriously enough.

Brandon Lewis, Security Minister, said: “These statistics show just one part of the breadth of work undertaken by the government, police, security and intelligence agencies and local authorities to reduce the terrorist threat. From arrests and prosecutions to safeguarding and early intervention through our Prevent programme, we will continue to do what it takes to keep the public safe.”