Terrorism in the United Kingdom
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Terrorism |
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Terrorism in the United Kingdom, according to the
The UK’s
1,834 people were arrested in the UK from September 2001 to December 2009 in connection with terrorism, of which 422 were charged with
History
Year | Number of incidents |
Deaths | Injuries |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | 122 | 42 | 301 |
2016 | 104 | 9 | 20 |
2015 | 115 | 1 | 23 |
2014 | 103 | 0 | 4 |
2013 | 137 | 4 | 64 |
2012 | 51 | 1 | 2 |
2011 | 47 | 1 | 3 |
2010 | 57 | 0 | 22 |
2009 | 22 | 3 | 12 |
2008 | 39 | 0 | 8 |
2007 | 20 | 4 | 13 |
2006 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
2005 | 25 | 57 | 836 |
2004 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
2003 | 23 | 2 | 11 |
2002 | 21 | 2 | 13 |
2001 | 94 | 8 | 33 |
2000 | 61 | 7 | 28 |
1999 | 76 | 7 | 161 |
1998 | 63 | 46 | 259 |
1997 | 78 | 23 | 35 |
1996 | 36 | 14 | 395 |
1995 | 22 | 11 | 5 |
1994 | 256 | 66 | 177 |
1993 | 7 | 31 | 204 |
1992 | 274 | 94 | 453 |
1991 | 262 | 88 | 235 |
1990 | 147 | 76 | 123 |
1989 | 163 | 66 | 174 |
1988 | 181 | 372 | 263 |
1987 | 118 | 104 | 120 |
1986 | 95 | 63 | 80 |
1985 | 67 | 64 | 175 |
1984 | 145 | 69 | 249 |
1983 | 177 | 77 | 186 |
1982 | 95 | 95 | 152 |
1981 | 143 | 86 | 118 |
1980 | 135 | 115 | 115 |
1979 | 238 | 133 | 146 |
1978 | 100 | 81 | 113 |
1977 | 140 | 103 | 17 |
1976 | 194 | 264 | 19 |
1975 | 194 | 245 | 129 |
1974 | 202 | 235 | 329 |
1973 | 189 | 210 | 275 |
1972 | 283 | 368 | 37 |
1971 | 81 | 110 | 1 |
1970 | 12 | 20 | 1 |
Total | 5,218 | 3,447 | 5,937 |
There have been many historically significant terrorist incidents within the United Kingdom, from the
- For incidents in Great Britain, see List of terrorist incidents in Great Britain and List of terrorist incidents in London.
- For incidents in Northern Ireland, see Timeline of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
The British state has been accused of involvement in state terrorism in Northern Ireland.[12][13][14][15]
A "restricted" 12 June 2008
On 29 August 2014, the British government launched a raft of counter-terrorism measures as the terrorist threat level was raised to "severe".
On 22 May 2017, 23 people were killed after a bombing occurred following a concert by Ariana Grande in the most deadly terrorist attack on British soil since 2005.[18] After a COBRA meeting, UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the UK's terror threat level was being raised to 'critical', its highest level.[19] By raising the threat level to "critical", Operation Temperer was started, allowing 5,000 soldiers to replace armed police in protecting parts of the country.[20][21] BBC's Frank Gardner said that the first deployment of troops is expected to be in the hundreds.[22]
There have been calls for the publication of a report into the finance of terrorism which the government said they left unpublished for security reasons. Tim Farron said, "Theresa May should be ashamed of the way she has dragged her heels on this issue, first as home secretary and now as prime minister. No amount of trade with dodgy regimes such as Saudi Arabia is worth putting the safety of the British public at risk, and if May is serious about our security, she would publish the report in full, immediately."[23]
From June 2016 to June 2017, 379 people in the UK had been arrested for terrorism-linked offences with 123 of them being charged, 105 of them for terrorism offences. This was a 68% increase from the previous year which was partly due to various Islamist terror attacks on UK soil such as the Manchester bombing, the London Bridge attack, and the Westminster attack. The report also said that 19 terrorist plots had been foiled by British police since June 2013.[24]
Jihadist material including bomb making instructions and execution videos gets more clicks in the UK than in any other European nation and is spread among a wide range of different domains. Internet companies have been accused of not preventing this. New measures are being considered to stop internet providers from showing this type of content including fines for internet companies that do not remove jihadist material.
Police chief, Sara Thornton fears cuts to the police budget will weaken counter terrorism. Thornton maintains resources needed to deal with terrorist incidents are brought from mainstream policing adding to the strain on general policing. Thornton maintains neighbourhood policing is important because it gives people confidence in the police. Then confident people give the police information needed to prevent terrorist attacks. Thornton said, "Fewer officers and police community support officers will cut off the intelligence that is so crucial to preventing attacks. Withdrawal from communities risks undermining their trust in us at a time when we need people to have the confidence to share information with us." Thornton also said, "Experts tell us that the spate of attacks in the UK and Europe are a shift not a spike in the threat, which will take 20 or 30 years to eliminate. This new normality necessitates an open-minded dialogue with government about how we respond; and our resources have got to be part of the conversation."[26][27]
Organisations
Counter Terrorism Policing is the national collaboration of police forces across the United Kingdom responsible for counter terrorism operations and strategy.
The
Organisations the government has designated as terrorist and banned, of whom the vast majority are of radical Islamic ideology, are:[1]
Ulster unionist
- Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters
- Ulster Volunteer Force
- Loyalist Volunteer Force
- Orange Volunteers
- Red Hand Commandos
- Red Hand Defenders
Far-right
Far-left
- Kurdistan Workers Party
- Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front
Irish republican
- Continuity Irish Republican Army
- Cumann na mBan
- Fianna Éireann
- Irish National Liberation Army
- Irish People's Liberation Organisation
- Irish Republican Army
- Saor Éire
Islamist
According to political scientist
In July 2017, it was reported that British authorities had stripped some 150 suspected criminals with dual citizenship of their British passport, to prevent them from returning to the UK. Those deprived of their UK citizenship included both "jihadis" and "jihadi brides".[32]
In October 2020, Islamist terrorism remained the greatest threat to the UK by volume according to Ken McCallum, the Director General of MI5.[33] A report published in the same year found that of the 43,000 extremists on MI5's watchlist, around nine-tenths of the people on the list are Islamist extremists.[34] In July 2023, Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, reiterated that Islamic terrorism was the primary domestic threat facing the UK.[35] Islamic terrorism represented 67% of attacks since 2018, 75% of MI5's caseload, and 64% of those in custody for terrorism-connected offences according to the 2023 CONTEST report.[6] The Independent Reviewer for the government's anti-terror programme, Sir William Shawcross, has stated that there was a reluctance to investigate Islamist threats due to fears of being labelled Islamophobic or racist. Instead, staff from the government's anti-terror programme were biased towards tackling far-right threats despite Islamist threats posing a greater risk.[36]
- Abdullah Azzam Brigades, including the Ziyad al Jarrah Battalions (AAB)
- Abu Nidal Organisation
- Abu Sayyaf
- Aden-Abyan Islamic Army
- Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
- Al Ghurabaa
- Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya
- Al-Muhajiroun
- Al Murabitun
- Al Qaeda
- Al-Shabaab
- Ansar al-Islam
- Ansar Al Sharia Tunisia
- Ansaru
- Ansar Bait al-Maqdis
- Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan (Vanguard for the protection of Muslims in Black Africa)
- Armed Islamic Groupalso known as GIA
- Asbat al-Ansar
- Egyptian Islamic Jihad
- Hamas
- Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen
- Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami
- Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
- Harkat-ul-Ansar
- Hezbollah
- Imarat Kavkaz(IK) (also known as the Caucasus Emirate)
- Indian Mujahideen
- Islam4UK
- Islamic Jihad Union
- Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- Jaish-e-Mohammed
- Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna (formerly Jaish Ansar al-Sunna)
- Jamaat Ul-Furquan
- Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen
- Jemaah Islamiyah
- Jundallah
- Kateeba al Kawthar
- Khuddam ul-Islam
- Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
- Lashkar-e-Toiba
- Minbar Ansar Deen
- Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
- Muslims Against Crusades
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad
- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command
- Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat
- The Saved Sect
- Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan(also known as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat)
- Tehrik Nefaz-e Shari'at Muhammadi
- Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan
Others
See also
- Crime in the United Kingdom
- Islamic terrorism in the United Kingdom
- Prevention of Terrorism Act (Northern Ireland)
- Right-wing terrorism in the United Kingdom
- Terrorism Acts
- Terrorism in the European Union
- The Troubles
- State-sponsored terrorism § United Kingdom
References
- ^ a b c "List of proscribed terrorist groups" (PDF). Gov.uk. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
- ^ a b "How many people are killed by terrorist attacks in the UK?"". The Telegraph. 5 June 2017.
- ^ "Sutton Index of Deaths: Geographical Location of the death". Conflict Archive on the Internet. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
- ^ a b Douglas, Roger. Law, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Terrorism. University of Michigan Press, 2014. p.18
- ^ ISBN 978-1-5286-0209-9.
- ^ a b "CONTEST: The United Kingdom's Strategy for Countering Terrorism 2023" (PDF). gov.uk. Home Office. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ Alan Travis. "No terror arrests in 100,000 police counter-terror searches, figures show". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- ^ National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. (2016). Global Terrorism Database (globalterrorismdb_0616dist.xlsx). Retrieved from https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd University of Maryland
- ^ National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. (2016). Global Terrorism Database (gtd1993_0616dist.xlsx). Retrieved from https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd University of Maryland
- doi:10.1086/712496.
- .
- ^ "CAIN: Issues: Collusion - Chronology of Events in the Stevens Inquiries". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- ^ Dr Martin Melaugh. "CAIN: Issues: Violence: Stevens Enquiry (3) Overview and Recommendations, 17 April 2003". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- ^ "Report of the Independent International Panel on Alleged Collusion in Sectarian Killings in Northern Ireland" (PDF). Patfinucanecentre.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- ^ "Village - Politics, Media and Current Affairs in Ireland - 'I'm lucky to be above the ground'". 2006-11-16. Archived from the original on 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- ^ a b c d Travis, Alan (2008-08-21). "MI5 report challenges views on terrorism in Britain Exclusive: Sophisticated analysis says there is no single pathway to violent extremism". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
- ^ Coates, Sam; Hamilton, Fiona (30 August 2014). "Security crackdown amid severe terror threat". The Times. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ Dodd, Vikram; Pidd, Helen; Rawlinson, Kevin; Siddique, Haroon; MacAskill, Ewen (23 May 2017). "At least 22 killed, 59 injured in suicide attack at Manchester Arena". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ "Latest updates as UK terror threat level raise". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ "PM Theresa May raises UK threat level to 'critical'". ITV News. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
Raising the level to critical means that military personnel could be deployed to support armed police officers - part of a plan known as Operation Temperer.
- ^ Alan Travis [@alantravis40] (May 23, 2017). "PM says Critical Threat level's Operation Temperer will use up to 5,000 troops to take over armed police patrol duties under police command" (Tweet). Retweeted by The Guardian – via Twitter.
- ^ Gardner, Frank (23 May 2017). "Threat level raised: Latest updates". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ 9/11 survivors urge May to publish UK terror funding report The Guardian
- ^ Travis, Alan (14 September 2017). "UK terror arrests rise 68% to record level during year of attacks". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- ^ Britain has large audience for online jihadist propaganda, report says The Guardian
- ^ UK's terror fight 'puts unsustainable strain on police' BBC
- ^ Don't cut police anti-terror budget as threat grows, warns top officer The Guardian
- ^ Fastest Growing Terrorist Threat is from the Far Right say Police The Guardian
- ^ a b c Lerner, Davide (2017-06-14). "London Gave Shelter to Radical Islam and Now It's Paying the Price, French Terrorism Expert Says". Haaretz. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ Lerner, Davide (2017-08-20). "It's Not Islam That Drives Young Europeans to Jihad, France's Top Terrorism Expert Explains". Haaretz. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
- ^ "'That Ignoramus': 2 French Scholars of Radical Islam Turn Bitter Rivals". Retrieved 2018-07-19.
'There is no proof that shows the young men go from Salafism to terrorism,' Mr. Roy said, pointing out that the planner of the Paris attacks in November, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, ate McDonald's, which is not halal. 'None of the terrorists were Salafists.'
- ^ "UK 'has stripped 150 jihadists and criminals of citizenship'". the Guardian. Press Association. 2017-07-30. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
- ^ "Director General Ken McCallum makes first public address | MI5 – The Security Service". www.mi5.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
- ^ Mendick, Robert (23 June 2020). "Stabbing suspect was assessed by anti-terror programme". The Telegraph.
- ^ "UK terrorism risk is rising - Suella Braverman". BBC News. 18 July 2023.
- ^ Hymas, Charles (21 February 2024). "Islamist extremism 'not being effectively tackled by Government'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
Further reading
- Blackbourn, Jessie. "Counter-Terrorism and Civil Liberties: The United Kingdom Experience, 1968-2008." Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies 8 (2008): 63+
- Bonner, David. "United Kingdom: the United Kingdom response to terrorism." Terrorism and Political Violence 4.4 (1992): 171-205. online
- Chin, Warren. Britain and the war on terror: Policy, strategy and operations (Routledge, 2016).
- Clutterbuck, Lindsay. "Countering Irish Republican terrorism in Britain: Its origin as a police function." Terrorism and Political Violence 18.1 (2006) pp: 95-118.
- Greer, Steven. "Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in the UK: From Northern Irish Troubles to Global Islamist Jihad." in Counter-Terrorism, Constitutionalism and Miscarriages of Justice (Hart Publishing, 2018) pp. 45–62.
- Hamilton, Claire. "Counter-Terrorism in the UK." in Contagion, Counter-Terrorism and Criminology (Palgrave Pivot, Cham, 2019) pp. 15–47.
- Hewitt, Steve. "Great Britain: Terrorism and counter-terrorism since 1968." in Routledge Handbook of Terrorism and Counterterrorism (Routledge, 2018) pp. 540–551.
- Lennon, Genevieve and Walker, Clive (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Law and Terrorism (Routledge, Abingdon, 2015)
- Martínez-Peñas, Leandro, and Manuela Fernández-Rodríguez. "Evolution of British Law on Terrorism: From Ulster to Global Terrorism (1970–2010)." in Post 9/11 and the State of Permanent Legal Emergency (Springer, 2012) pp. 201–222.
- O'Day, Alan. "Northern Ireland, Terrorism, and the British State." in Terrorism: Theory and Practice (Routledge, 2019) pp. 121–135.
- Sacopulos, Peter J. "Terrorism in Britain: Threat, reality, response." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 12.3 (1989): 153-165.
- Staniforth, Andrew, and Fraser Sampson, eds. The Routledge companion to UK counter-terrorism (Routledge, 2012).
- Sinclair, Georgina. "Confronting terrorism: British Experiences past and present." Crime, Histoire & Sociétés/Crime, History & Societies 18.2 (2014): 117-122. online
- Tinnes, Judith, ed. "Bibliography: Northern Ireland conflict (the troubles)." Perspectives on Terrorism 10.1 (2016): 83-110. online
- Walker, Clive, The Anti-Terrorism Legislation (Third edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
- Walker, C., Llobet Anglí, M., and Cancio Meliá,M. (eds.), Precursor Crimes of Terrorism: The Criminalisation of Terrorism Risk in Comparative Perspective (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2022)
- Wilkinson, Paul, ed. Terrorism: British Perspectives (Dartmouth, 1993).