New offence to target suspects without ideology

The government has announced a new offence to target suspects who are found to be preparing mass killings without a terrorist ideology.

Speaking to the BBC, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the criminal justice system had been given new tools to respond to suspects fixated with violence, who are not motivated by a particular ideology.

Currently those planning an attack with a terrorist ideology can be jailed for life and Cooper has said that new legislation will close the gap between them and those without a clear ideology.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's State of Terror series, Cooper said: "There is a gap in the law around the planning of mass attacks that can be just as serious [as terrorism] in their implications for communities, their impact, the devastation that they can cause and the seriousness of the crime."

"We will tighten legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism."