The then Home Secretary asked David Anderson QC (formerly the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, later Lord Anderson) to oversee the internal reviews in order to provide independent assurance of the robustness of the process. He was provided with access to the internal review work and produced his report in December 2017.[1]
185. Lord Anderson's published report recommended an increased role for MI5 and the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC). (CTP were responsible for what was at that time referred to as 'Domestic Extremism'.) In November 2017, Lord Anderson wrote to the Home Secretary regarding his findings—his letter analysed the handling of 'Domestic Extremism' at that time, and why a fresh approach was needed:
I was not impressed by the analysis of the threat from domestic extremism that was presented to me on behalf of CTP-NOC,[2] and can well imagine that JTAC will be better equipped to do the job. The police themselves appear keen for JTAC to take over the assessment, though this may owe something to what is evidently a fractious relationship between CTP-NOC and the Extremism Analysis Unit in the Home Office.
The failure to produce a single coherent definition of domestic extremism—a concept that is currently being asked to serve too broad a range of purposes—has left CTP-NOC in something of a definitional cloud. But more than that, the international/domestic distinction is outdated, and the contrast in apparent seriousness between terrorism and extremism is just the sort of factor that—were it more widely known—would be grist to the mill of those who falsely allege state-sponsored Islamophobia and seek to attract fair-minded citizens to their cause.[3]
Operational Improvement Review (OIR)
186. In addition to the internal reviews, MI5 and CTP—supported by the wider Intelligence Community—established an Operational Improvement Review (OIR), which sought to identify and recommend improvements in counter-terrorism work. The OIR highlighted the need for a new approach to countering Domestic Extremism, which, it noted, covered a broad area of activity:
The term Domestic Extremism is used in the context of individuals, groups and events (including protests) linked to Extreme Right Wing, Extreme Left Wing, Animal Rights and Environmental causes, where there is a likelihood of significantly affecting community tension, or causing economic or reputational impact to the UK.[4]
- ↑ Attacks in London and Manchester—March-June 2017—Independent Assessment of MI5 and Police Internal Reviews David Anderson QC, 5 December 2017. The ISC undertook an Inquiry into the 2017 terror attacks, and published its Report The 2017 Attacks: What needs to change? in November 2018. The Committee's Inquiry did not specifically address the Finsbury Park terrorist attack and the associated issue of what was then termed 'Domestic Extremism'.
- ↑ Counter Terrorism and Policing National Operations Centre.
- ↑ 'Independent Assurance of the Police and MI5 Reviews of the London and Manchester Terror Attacks', Letter from David Anderson QC to the Home Secretary, 2 November 2017.
- ↑ MI5 and CTP, Operational Improvement Review, October 2017 (Chapter 9 - Domestic Extremism).
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