Counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST) 2023 launch
The Home Secretary launched the UK's updated counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST 2023, at Central Hall, Westminster.
This speech has been edited to remove political content.
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 it’s 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 Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine, Iran’s repression of protest, and China’s 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.
That’s why I was so horrified by the atrocious overreaction to a Qur’an 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 that’s why I’ve tasked officials to develop policy options across government so that we get this sensitive issue absolutely right.
[…]
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 MI5’s 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.
It’s 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 ambition to conduct attacks in Great Britain, too.
So, first and foremost in response to these threats, we must pay tribute to the brilliance and heroism of professionals who work tirelessly to keep us safe.
Its thanks to them that we do not have a great many more broken hearts in our country.
And I’m proud of what this government has done in the last decade to support these frontline professionals to keep the British people safe.
Since the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, the Government opened the CTOC - Counter-Terrorism Operations Centre. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies have improved powers.
We have toughened controls around access to explosives precursors and strengthened the management of terrorist and terrorist-risk offenders in prison and on licence.
We have also ended the automatic early release of terrorist offenders in England, Scotland, and Wales and improved the tools for monitoring dangerous people in the community.
Last year Special Branch was integrated into the national counter-terrorism policing network.
Going forward, I will make sure that counter-terrorism investigations draw on an increased range of interventions – and better connect the counter-terrorism system with expertise in healthcare, education, social services, and the criminal justice system to respond to the full complexity of the terrorist threat.
I have set a very clear expectation that we must not focus only on stopping attacks. It is vital – literally vital – that we attack the threat at its source, by taking on and disrupting the radicalising influence of those who spread extremist ideology.
I will continue to ensure we hold ourselves to account in getting this right.
Independent and external scrutiny – such as from the Manchester Arena Inquiry, the Independent Review of Prevent, and the work led by the Commission for Countering Extremism – is absolutely essential.
A key element of the CONTEST refresh is a greater effort to use every lever to identify and then intervene against terrorists.
And of course, we must harness the opportunities presented by new technology – such as AI – just as terrorists are seeking to do.
CONTEST is now 20 years old. It has become world-leading, and our allies look to our example, but it has to be under constant review and regularly updated.
CONTEST will maintain its four pillars: Prevent, Pursue, Protect, and Prepare. These pillars attack every stage of the threat – from stopping people becoming terrorists through to mitigating the impact of terrorist attacks.
So first to Prevent.
Prevent is at its core an early intervention programme. Its mission is to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism in the first place.
It relies on frontline professionals across society – working in healthcare, education, local authorities, and the police.
Sir William Shawcross led a thorough, independent review of Prevent, which showed that the programme required major reform to better understand the threats that we face - namely the ideology underpinning them.
Terrorists seek to recruit or influence those who have signed-up for, or are susceptible to, extremist ideas and rhetoric.
As CONTEST references some groups, for example Cage, publicly demonstrate behaviours that oppose the values and principles that underpin our society.
Cage’s leaders have excused and legitimised violence by Islamist terrorists. For example, in 2015, Cage’s research director stated that the ISIS executioner Mohammed Emwazi was “extremely gentle and kind” and a “beautiful young man”.
We work very closely with Muslim experts and practitioners, who tell me they appreciate our work to call out those whose words might hijack the lives and minds of British Muslims.
This must continue to be a joint effort, where we stand together and face not only the terrorist threat, but also those whose statements can contribute to a permissive environment for radicalisation and recruitment.
We must not shy away from challenging a hard-line ideology which has absolutely nothing to do with the majority of British Muslims who are peaceful and make a valuable contribution to our country.
We must stop looking to these groups who claim to represent “their community” for approval, as if it were a homogeneous bloc.
These groups simply do not and cannot represent them.
To suggest otherwise is lazy and insulting to the diverse mix of people, ideas, and beliefs we celebrate in this country.
In 2015, the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, said this:
“Islam is a religion observed peacefully and devoutly by over a billion people. Islamist extremism is a political ideology supported by a minority. At the furthest end are those who back terrorism to promote their ultimate goal: an entire Islamist realm, governed by an interpretation of sharia. Move along the spectrum, and you find people who may reject violence, but who accept various parts of the extremist worldview, including real hostility towards western democracy and liberal values.”
I wholeheartedly stand by his words.
Sir William identified a cultural timidity within Prevent and an institutional hesitancy to tackle Islamism for fear of charges of so-called ‘Islamophobia’.
It was therefore not a surprise, but extremely concerning, that a mere 16% of Prevent referrals in 2021 related to Islamism.
Alongside understanding the motivations which make people susceptible to embracing extremist ideology, we will understand the ideology itself.
While mental health is a potential factor that makes someone more susceptible to extreme ideology, ideology is the lens through which terrorists see the world. And mental ill health cannot absolve individual responsibility.
So we are improving Prevent, to be better at spotting terrorists before they act, by developing a more nuanced and evidence-based approach to identification and assessment.
Meanwhile, Prevent elided fascists with perfectly respectable centre-right figures, while insufficient attention was paid to the racism and bigotry of antisemitism.
The approach Prevent was taking was utterly unsustainable and I have acted.
I’m already implementing all of the Independent Review’s recommendations and I have issued an instruction that Prevent focus solely on security, not political correctness.
Prevent is going back to first principles and reasserting its overall objective of stopping people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. After all, it is a security service, not a social service.
I will make sure that we deliver every aspect of Prevent to a consistent threshold that is proportionate to the threat. I will update the public on our progress in the autumn.
It’s essential that we continue to invest in the identification of future threats and opportunities that derive from technology - working with international partners, the private sector, think tanks, and academia.
Terrorists exploit technology – including end-to-end encryption – to hide their networks, spread propaganda, and enable attacks. That is why CONTEST commits to enabling legal access to the data we need to investigate and disrupt terrorist activity.
And of course, technology also enables our counter-terrorism efforts – and cutting-edge techniques can significantly improve our response.
Moreover, there is a co-ordinated international effort to supress terrorist exploitation of the internet, including co-operation with companies on a bilateral basis and partnership with non-governmental organisations and multilateral forums.
The second pillar is Pursue, which aims to detect, investigate, and disrupt the activities of those who have crossed that threshold into the world of terrorism.
At any given time, Counter Terrorism Policing has around 800 ongoing investigations. These get more and more complex as the threat diversifies.
There were 166 arrests for terrorism-related activity in 2022. Over the same period, 232 people were in custody for terrorism-connected offences in Great Britain.
The government has taken strong action against terrorist groups, restricting their access to finance, disrupting their activity, and banning them from the UK.
Several groups have been proscribed since 2018, including extreme right-wing terrorist groups such as Feuerkrieg Division, Atomwaffen Division and its UK Sonnenkrieg Division, and the Base, as well as the so-called political wing of Hamas and Hezbollah.
A terrorist threat can spring up in places where we have not previously had counter-terrorism relationships.
We are therefore building relationships with more countries’ counter-terrorism systems, and I will continue to ensure that the network evolves to match and anticipate threats.
This overseas network will act as a tripwire should the threat develop. It is a strong foundation upon which we can rapidly build upon if necessary.
And I will not hesitate to lead legislative changes whenever we conclude that the law is not up to date with the threat we face.
For example, we are carefully considering Lord Anderson’s independent review of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.
The third pillar of CONTEST, Protect, is about strengthening our defences against terrorist attacks.
As with everything else, we continuously review our protective security approaches. We have to take account of the very latest research and intelligence about terrorist targets and attack methodologies.
An example of this is research into the use of vehicles as a weapon. This has been informed by the development of the Rental Vehicle Security Scheme, a voluntary programme which helps rental companies to stop their vehicles from being used for terrorist purposes.
In direct response to the Manchester Arena bombing, we will ensure public venues are better prepared and protected against terrorist attacks. In honour of Martyn Hett, who was tragically killed in the attack, we will pass Martyn’s Law to improve security at public venues.
To support those protecting their premises against terrorism, the Home Office and partners will continue to make free guidance, advice, and training available through ProtectUK.
I want everyone to feel safe in the UK. I have given additional funding to both the Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme and the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, which provide protective security measures at places of worship and faith community centres.
Antisemitism is an ancient evil that we must vanquish. Last month, I chaired the first Jewish Community Crime, Policing and Security Taskforce with representatives from the Community Security Trust; the Department of Levelling Up and senior police leaders.
We agreed to work together on better enforcement against antisemitic offences, leading to more arrests and prosecutions, and the taskforce will meet again later in the year.
We’ll also ensure protection at the border: improving screening; deploying new technology; and enhancing radiological and nuclear detection capabilities.
And the fourth and final CONTEST pillar is Prepare. It seeks to minimise impact of an attack and reduce the likelihood of further attacks.
A responsible Home Secretary needs to be honest about the fact that we cannot reduce the risk entirely – but we will take every proportionate action possible to do so.
Every time there is a serious event, the whole country marvels at how readily brave men and women in the emergency services put themselves in danger to save lives. And this is why implementing the lessons of the Manchester Arena Inquiry – to ensure they work most effectively together – is so important.
And so to conclude, the threat continues to evolve and is increasing - meaning that we must also evolve, faster and better, to stay ahead of it and to keep the British people safe.
And partnerships are more important than ever, in a world where we face a broader range of threats. We must work and will work together as one system, with the public and our international allies to reduce the risk from terrorism.
Where states make use of terrorist groups as proxies we will use our counter-terrorism powers, capabilities, and expertise to protect the UK.
Alongside our counter-terrorism toolkit, the powers in the National Security Act will help to keep the UK safe by making it even harder for those states who seek to conduct hostile acts against the UK.
We will use all of the tools and resources at our disposal. And we will confront every challenge fearlessly and honestly. There is no room for complacency, political correctness, or cultural timidity.
There is no greater duty for this government than to keep the British people safe, and I will not rest in delivering that mission.