GovWire

Good morning everybody,

On the 22nd May 2017, thousands of people descended on Manchester Arena for a pop concert.

Unlike a sporting contest, where half the participants and many of the spectators will likely leave feeling disappointed, concerts are moments where everybody can come together as one and all go home happy.

Many of us have some exceptionally joyful memories of such occasions.

Huge crowds, so intimidating in other circumstances feel welcoming and exciting and people are united in joy.

But that night in Manchester, the purest of pleasures was turned into a nightmare beyond imagination. 22 souls murdered, over 1000 injured in one of the deadliest acts of terrorism since 7/7.

The country came together as one, united in sorrow and anger, and resolve that extremism and terrorism will never win.

Such events are always a deeply sobering reminder of the threat we face.

It is ever-present, it is evolving and more complex than ever, and we cannot take our eyes off it for a second.

Yesterday I visited the world-leading Counter-Terrorism Operations Centre (CTOC). It is phenomenally effective, and I pay tribute to the dedication of our staff and experts who work there.

Opened in 2022, it is a direct response to the lessons learnt from the horrific events in Manchester, bringing together partners from counter-terrorism policing, the intelligence agencies and the criminal justice system - allowing minute-by-minute collaboration between teams.

We will realise the full potential of CTOC, bringing together the right teams, data, and technology more effectively to identify, investigate, and disrupt terrorists.

Likewise, we will maintain investment in critical threat assessment capabilities, through our world-class Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre - JTAC.

But learning from the experiences of victims and survivors, some of whom are here with us today, will be right at the heart of our counter-terrorism policy.

I am so grateful to all of you for having the courage to be here.

Victims need compassionate and timely support. And we know there is more to do which is why the Home Office has been carrying out an internal review, now in its final stages, to ensure the right support is available.

This needs to improve victims and survivors access to mental health and financial support and strengthen the support available for children and young people.

Now, the United Kingdom is a wonderful place and I have no time for those who sneer at anyone who proclaims their love for it.

There is so much that makes us special, our history, our culture, institutions, and liberties, but above all its the rights and freedoms which lay the foundation of our society.

Democracy, the rule of law, sexual equality, freedom of religion, freedom of expression and freedom of inquiry.

These freedoms are not enjoyed universally. We are reminded of that every day by Russias barbaric invasion of Ukraine, Irans repression of protest, and Chinas horrendous treatment of Uyghur people and its draconian laws in Hong Kong.

Those precious rights and freedoms form the basis of our shared values, which weave our people together and create our nation.

We must cherish these values, argue for them, defend them, fight for them robustly because there is no shortage of people who want to undermine them through extremism and terrorism.

Attacks in recent years, such as in Westminster, Manchester Arena, London Bridge, Finsbury Park, Fishmongers Hall, Forbury Gardens, and the murders of MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess have taken lives in murderous circumstances in the name of extremist ideology.

Extremist movements, both violent and non-violent, seek to radicalise others into joining their mission. This threatens our security and our freedom.

These movements are growing in significance and complexity whether it is Islamism or the extreme right wing.

We must never be indifferent about extremist or grievance-driven rhetoric which creates a permissive environment for terrorist and other illegal activity to take place.

Non-violent extremism is the climate in which violence is cultivated. Our work with former extremists of different stripes makes it clear that ideology is of central importance.

So, the ideas and ideals driving terrorist movements must be tackled.

Thats why I was so horrified by the atrocious overreaction to a Quran being scuffed in a school in Wakefield, and by events in Batley, where a teacher who showed pupils a picture of Muhammad was hounded out.

Anti-blasphemy protests, whether its outside schools or cinemas, are in my view a threat to national security. Everything must be done to prevent such intimidation. That a teacher remains in hiding in Batley is unacceptable.

We do not have blasphemy laws, as I reminded everybody earlier this year. And we cannot accept their de facto enforcement by mob intimidation.

Radical anti-blasphemy clerics need a robust response, and thats why Ive tasked officials to develop policy options across government so that we get this sensitive issue absolutely right.

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The UK is not a racist, bigoted society. We are the precise opposite: an incredibly cohesive and successful multi-racial, multi-faith, multi-cultural democracy.

But we have to protect and renew this constantly.

Nor can we be complacent about foreign actors.

Russia, China, and Iran have all shown themselves to be all too willing to exploit and destabilise our country.

The most pressing national security priority is now the threat from Russia to European security, but China poses an epoch-defining and systemic challenge.

The new National Security Act, led by my colleague - the Rt Hon Security Minister, will help to keep the UK safe by making it even harder for those states to seek to conduct hostile acts against the UK.

But the lines between the threats we face terrorism, state threats, serious and organised crime are becoming increasingly blurred and will often overlap. We must use all the tools and resources at our disposal.

And that brings me to CONTEST.

So, when it comes to counter-terrorism, we do this through CONTEST - our counter-terrorism strategy.

CONTEST has a clear mission: to reduce the risk from terrorism to the UK, its citizens, and its interests overseas, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence.

The last formal update of CONTEST was 5 years ago. Since then, we have seen nine declared attacks and 39 disrupted attacks. The terrorist threat is enduring.

While Islamist terrorism remains the predominant threat, the key point today is that terrorist attacks are becoming increasingly unpredictable, making them harder to detect and investigate.

Today unlike in previous years, terrorist movements are increasingly fragmented and disparate, and there are emerging threats from the extreme right and from abroad.

Despite the prevalence of lower sophistication attacks in the UK, the threat today is more diverse, dynamic, and complex.

Consequently, we judge that the risk from terrorism is rising, albeit from a lower base, and not as high as a few years ago.

By far the biggest terrorist threat comes from Islamism. It accounts for 67% of attacks since 2018 and about three-quarters of MI5s caseload.

Islamist terror groups, including Daesh and al-Qaida, continue to seek to plan and enable attacks in countries such as the UK.

The threat has evolved in the face of our counter-terrorism pressure and is now made up of looser and more fragmented terrorist networks - but these still contain many individuals of concern, including those with the training and motivation to conduct attacks.

Along with terrorist propaganda materials designed to inspire attacks, we also see more targeted efforts to encourage and advise individuals who may already be present in a target country.

The remainder of the UK domestic terrorist threat is largely driven by extreme right-wing terrorism, which amounts to approximately 22% of attacks since 2018, about a quarter of MI5 caseload, and 28% of those in custody for terrorism-connected offences.

Its not the same in scale or nature as Islamism.

These ideologies support the use of violence to further the protection or preservation of race, identity, culture, or country from a perceived existential threat.

Unlike Islamist terrorist groups, extreme right-wing terrorists are not typically organised into formal groups with leadership hierarchies and territorial ambitions, but informal online communities which facilitate international links.

These terrorist narratives are also exploited by hostile actors such as Russia and Iran, which is seeking to promote the divisive and polarising narratives in the west. This is likely to increase in the future.

Northern Ireland-related terrorism remains a serious threat, particularly in Northern Ireland itself.

CONTEST covers the threat from Northern Ireland-related terrorism in mainland Great Britain. However, the threats to Northern Ireland and to Great Britain are not considered in isolation.

Despite the significant progress in the last 25 years, some dissident republican groups continue to carry out terrorist attacks. Between 2018 and April 2023, there were eight national security attacks in Northern Ireland.

Police and prison officers, as well as members of the armed forces, continue to be targets of dissident republicans. They are likely to retain an

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