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Contest: UK Strategy for Countering Terrorism 2023
19 July 2023
Lead MP
Suella Braverman
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
TaxationScience & Technology
Other Contributors: 22
At a Glance
Suella Braverman raised concerns about contest: uk strategy for countering terrorism 2023 in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
Yesterday, the Government published an updated counter-terrorism strategy, Contest. Despite a prevalence of lower-sophistication attacks in the UK, the threat from terrorism is enduring and evolving: Islamist terrorist groups overseas pose a persistent and evolving threat, while the domestic threat is less predictable, harder to detect and investigate. The biggest terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism (67% of attacks since 2018) followed by extreme right-wing terrorism (22%). The updated strategy aims to identify and intervene against terrorists more effectively through partnerships with the private sector and international allies, and by harnessing new technology.
Question
The Contest update highlights ongoing threats but lacks concrete measures to address them. Questions include AI radicalisation risks, international collaboration against Daesh and al-Qaeda, prison conditions leading to radicalisation, and lack of response plans for state-sponsored terrorism like Iran’s involvement.
Minister reply
Acknowledges the gravity of these issues. Highlights government efforts in disrupting 39 late-stage terror plots since March 2017, including reforms from Martyn's law and National Security Bill. Emphasises tough management approaches to terrorist prisoners, development of a new counter-terrorism assessment and rehabilitation centre, and concerns about AI technology’s risks, aiming for international dialogue on mitigation strategies.
Question
How will the Contest strategy help integrate data from disparate sources to link organised crime group activity with terrorists?
Minister reply
The updated strategy realigns priorities and resources across agencies, responding swiftly and robustly to emerging threats by enhancing coordination between terrorist organisations, hostile state actors, and serious organised crime groups on a transnational basis.
Stuart McDonald
SNP
Glasgow South West
Question
May I start by expressing my party’s deep gratitude to all those who are working to protect us from despicable terrorist attacks? Of course, our thoughts remain with all those who have suffered as a result of such evil crimes. On that note, while I welcome the strategy’s focus on victims, may I raise the recent reports of survivors of terrorism who have been deeply upset by poor treatment by the criminal injuries compensation scheme?
Minister reply
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his observations. He talked about support and compensation for victims of terrorism. More can and must be done, which is why the Government are reviewing the support available to better address victims’ needs. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that victims of terrorism get the full compensation to which they are entitled, in line with schemes administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Theresa Villiers
Con
Cabinet Office Minister
Question
I welcome the update of the strategy. It would be helpful if the Home Secretary told us whether it will get the big tech companies to do more to prevent terrorists from exploiting their platforms—an issue highlighted in the Intelligence and Security Committee report, “Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism”.
Minister reply
The technological aspect of terrorism is very real. Our enemies are using more and more sophisticated tools against us for hostile purposes. That is plain from an intelligence point of view. That is why Contest makes a deliberate point of addressing the technological features of this kind of work. A huge amount of investment and operational capability has been put into mitigating and dealing with that threat, most notably in the form of the counter-terrorism operations centre—a new collaboration centre that I had the honour of visiting recently.
Diana R. Johnson
Lab
Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham
Question
A few weeks ago I met Travis Frain, a founder member of Survivors Against Terror, who explained how his life had been changed forever by the Westminster bridge terrorist attack and how he did not get the support he needed in the aftermath. This week, a survey of 130 survivors of 11 major terrorist incidents found that more than two thirds felt that the compensation scheme overseen by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority was unfair and unreasonable. The Home Secretary talked about a review. It is unacceptable that these people are in that position at the moment.
Minister reply
As I mentioned, there are no words and there is no amount of money that can adequately reflect the pain and suffering experienced by victims of terrorism. That is why it is absolutely right that we provide victims of terrorism with full compensation and the fullest support possible and available to enable them to move forward from these tragic events.
Crispin Blunt
Con
Reigate
Question
There are people in Ukraine who found their territory illegally occupied and annexed by Russia, their children disappeared into Russian custody and their land settled by ethnic Russians. Under international law, we recognise the right of victims of the criminal actions of the Russian state to resist. How can we ensure that we do not end up characterising the legal actions by the victims in that conflict, and in other analogous conflicts around the world, as terrorism?
Minister reply
I am very proud of the UK’s track record of supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainians both in Ukraine and abroad through the devastating illegal conflict that Russia and Putin have waged upon them. It is right that we provide military support, it is right that we rolled out an extensive set of sanctions against Russia, and it is right that we continue our international and diplomatic support for Ukrainians.
Kevan Jones
Lab
North Durham
Question
I add my comments to those of the Home Secretary on our security services and thank them for the work that they do. The Intelligence and Security Committee report last year on right-wing terrorism found that 30% of disrupted plots were from right-wing terrorism, and that they mainly involved young people who aimed to join either the armed forces or the police. We made recommendations on tightening up the vetting of police officers and proscribing membership of right-wing organisations for members of the armed forces.
Minister reply
The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to refer to the emerging threat posed by extreme right-wing terrorism. The director general of MI5, in his annual update, referred to the ideologies that are emerging and increasing in activity, and the independent review of Prevent focused on work that can be better done.
Henry Smith
Con
Ewell
Question
In updating the UK’s counter-terror strategy, what work are the security services doing with UK Border Force to identify those entering the United Kingdom, particularly by irregular means?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Terrorists and those who have malign intent for our nation will exploit all sorts of vulnerabilities, including at the border—that is obvious. That is why the Contest upgrade deals specifically with this issue.
Alistair Carmichael
Lib Dem
Orkney and Shetland
Question
This is a policy area that throws up some of the most difficult cases ever to be found, so I welcome the Home Secretary’s determination to build political consensus and ensure that we work with our strategic allies. Some of the most difficult cases around counter-terrorism involve UK citizens, especially children who were trafficked by ISIS and are currently in north-east Syria.
Minister reply
The right hon. Gentleman is right to refer to this very regrettable feature of modern day counter-terrorism. Paragraph 26 of the Contest strategy states: In recent years there has been a small increase in the number of minors investigated and arrested by Counter Terrorism Police.
James Wild
Con
North West Norfolk
Question
Technology brings huge benefits, but it is also exploited by terrorists. Is my right hon. and learned Friend confident that the updated strategy will ensure that technology companies do far more to prevent their services being used by those who wish us harm and to co-operate with our security and law enforcement services, particularly given the approach that some have taken on encryption and child abuse imagery?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend has spoken about an issue that is close to my heart: tackling online child sexual exploitation, which is rising at an exponential and horrifying pace.
Khalid Mahmood
Lab
Birmingham Perry Barr
Question
I welcome this statement. Although it was much delayed, it was much awaited. One of the key things missing from the strategy is the use of covert human intelligence sources—the people who used to be known as informants to the police.
Minister reply
I cannot get into details that relate to operational independence and decisions made by the agencies in live investigations, but what I would say is that I expect all agencies and law enforcement organisations to use the full breadth of powers that we have afforded them.
Scott Benton
Con
Question
The current situation, whereby tens of thousands of young men are arriving in small boats on our shores—primarily young men from unstable parts of the world—is frankly an accident waiting to happen. Does the Home Secretary agree that the British people expect our borders to be robustly enforced, and that is just as important when it comes to defending our nation from terrorism as it is for anything else?
Minister reply
A strong border is critical to counter-terrorism. The Contest 2023 strategy clearly sets that out. In the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, the Government revised schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000, expanding powers to prevent illegal entry, including via small boats. Our migration and border system provides a critical opportunity to identify and manage individuals and goods that pose a terrorist concern.
Stewart Hosie
SNP
Question
In the Government’s response to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s “Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism” report—they said that our counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, remains threat agnostic so that rather than targeting specific ideologies, our tools, powers and overall CT approach can adapt to changing threats while also ensuring our approach is still able to identify and assess what are inherently ideological threats. Can I simply ask her to confirm that nothing she has said today and nothing that has been published changes the underlying philosophical basis of how the Contest strategy operates?
Minister reply
As the Contest strategy refresh makes clear, a broad range of ideologies and narratives draw people into supporting terrorism. That includes, as I have said, Islamist terrorism, which is by far the largest proportion of MI5’s case load, but there is also an increasing threat from extreme right-wing terrorism that we must confront, eliminate and do everything in our power to stop.
Tonia Antoniazzi
Lab
Gower
Question
In June this year, the borders inspectorate said that not every arrival into the UK at Manston was having security checks done as part of their interview or having their property checked. Can the Home Secretary guarantee now that every arrival is being fully checked, and if not, why not?
Minister reply
Having visited the reception centres at Western Jet Foil and Manston, and having been working closely on ensuring that the right facilities, resources and mechanisms are in place to ensure that those who arrive illegally are appropriately accommodated, I can say that we ensure that those who arrive are checked. They go through biometric checks and any other appropriate checks, and then they are put through our processing centres, generally at Manston.
Tan Dhesi
Lab
Slough
Question
The UK police and security services used to conduct more than 600 million real-time security checks on a shared EU platform before we lost access after Brexit. At the time, the Government informed us that we would have access to a shared platform within two or three years. Now, the permanent secretary has advised that we will not have access to a shared dataset until 2027 or 2028. Can the Home Secretary confirm just how much of a damaging effect the loss of this vital intelligence and security mechanism is having on our ability to tackle terrorism and cross-border crime?
Minister reply
I know the hon. Gentleman is on his Brexit bandwagon, but from a security point of view, we have never had stronger collaboration with international partners than today. We continue to develop our global reach and insight through sustained working with allies such as the Five Eyes.
Pontypridd
Question
The Government’s update acknowledges that when it comes to AI, terrorists are likely to exploit technology. However, there are no concrete plans in the update to address those growing risks. What concrete plans are in place to tackle this growing problem?
Minister reply
We have established a world-leading counter-terrorism operations centre and are maintaining our investment in critical threat assessment capabilities through the joint terrorism analysis centre.
Luke Pollard
Lab/Co-op
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
Question
The new Contest counter-terrorism strategy mentions that incel threats could meet the threshold of terrorist intent or action. Does the Home Secretary agree it is now time to develop a cross-Government incel strategy, so we can prevent people from going down the path towards violent misogyny?
Minister reply
Incel culture needs work; it promotes violence and extremism, which are at odds with our free and democratic society. I am happy to speak further about developing strategies to combat this issue.
Stephen Farry
Ind
Question
Since 2016, the additional security funding provided to the Police Service of Northern Ireland has been flatlining at £32 million a year. Will the Home Secretary undertake to review that level of funding to ensure the PSNI and Security Service have adequate resources to combat terrorism?
Minister reply
Northern Ireland-related terrorism remains a serious threat, particularly in Northern Ireland. The Contest approach covers mainland Great Britain but does not address threats within Northern Ireland itself; this is managed by separate strategic approaches.
Martin Docherty
Lab
Paisley and Renfrewshire North
Question
The national security adviser to the Canadian Government listed Russia, China, Iran and India as key state actors posing a threat. Is this anywhere in the Home Secretary’s thinking on extremism?
Minister reply
Our approach is actor-agnostic but we note threats based on casework analysis by MI5 and other agencies. The predominant threats relate to Islamist terrorism.
Jim Shannon
DUP
Strangford
Question
Further to the question from Stephen Farry, will she outline what steps have been taken to allocate additional funding to local police forces in areas with higher threat levels such as Northern Ireland? Bearing in mind that the police budget in Northern Ireland has been cut in real terms, will she confirm what discussions have taken place with the Chief Constable and Policing Board?
Minister reply
I regularly discuss robust defences across the whole piece. We ensure that we are adequately equipped to respond to threats from dissident republican groups.
Margaret Ferrier
SNP
Renzillahill
Question
The rapid proliferation of end-to-end encryption and anonymous messaging services allows terrorist groups to communicate freely without the risk of detection or identification. Of course, personal privacy must be upheld for ordinary citizens, so how are the Government looking to work with tech experts to find alternative ways of accessing the communications of members of such groups?
Minister reply
This is something that really does concern me. The proposed roll-out of end-to-end encryption without enabling lawful access or without safeguards will pose a danger not just to national security, but to children and to all our people. It is vital that the technology companies work with us to roll out the available technology—I am confident that it exists—to enable and protect privacy rights, but at the same time to enable law enforcement access and interventions to take place so that we can safeguard children online, prevent radicalisation online and prevent criminality online.
Shadow Comment
Holly Lynch
Shadow Comment
The Contest update highlights ongoing threats but lacks concrete measures. Concerns include oversight of artificial intelligence's potential for radicalisation, urgent international collaboration to mitigate risks from Daesh and al-Qaeda, prison conditions leading to radicalisation, and lack of response plans for state-sponsored terrorism like Iran’s involvement. Lynch calls for new offences criminalising AI training for radicalisation, detailed responses on prisoner releases, and proscription powers against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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