Prime Minister warns UK has ‘cohort of loners who are extreme and need to be factored in’ to security plans
Sir Keir Starmer has warned the UK has a “cohort of loners who are extreme and need to be factored in” as a leaked Home Office review said the UK should deal with extremism by focusing on concerning behaviours and activity rather than ideologies.
The prime minister said his government is “looking carefully where the key challenges” on extremism are, adding it is “very important” to focus on threats “so we can deploy our resource properly”.
“Obviously, that’s now informed with what I said last week in the aftermath of the Southport murders, where we’ve got the additional challenge, I think, of a cohort of loners who are extreme and they need to be factored in,” he said.
“So that’s the focus. In the end, what this comes down to is the safety and security of people across the United Kingdom, that’s my number one focus.”
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Sir Keir was speaking after a leaked Home Office extremism review suggested the UK should be focusing on behaviours and activities such as spreading conspiracy theories, misogyny, influencing racism and involvement in “an online subculture called the manosphere”.
The Home Office said Islamism and extreme right-wing ideologies are the “most prominent” issues they are tackling today.
In August, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Home Office was conducting a “rapid analytical spring on extremism” to map and monitor trends and inform the government’s approach to extremism.
Last week, Sir Keir Starmer said he would change the law if needed to recognise the new threat posed by extremists without specific ideologies ahead of the jailing of Axel Rudakubana for the stabbing to death of three young girls in Southport last summer.
The 18-year-old had been referred to the anti-terror Prevent programme three times but was not deemed as an extremist under the scheme’s criteria. And, although he pleaded guilty to murder, police were unable to identify Rudakubana’s motive, so his crimes fell outside the definition of terrorism.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King were murdered by Axel Rudakubana
Recommendations could be breach of freedom of speech
The leaked review, obtained ahead of its publication by the Policy Exchange thinktank, recommends reversing the guidance, introduced by then Home Secretary Suella Braverman, for police to reduce dealing with non-hate crime incidents.
It says a new crime, making “harmful communications” online illegal, should be introduced instead. The Conservative government rejected this on freedom of speech grounds.
Policy Exchange’s Paul Stott and Andrew Gilligan said recommendations to class claims of two-tier policing as a “right-wing extremist narrative” will also raise concerns over freedom of speech.
Dangerous individuals could be missed
They said including “behaviours” such as violence against women and girls, spreading misinformation and an interest in gore or extreme violence in the definition of extremism could “swamp already stretched counter-extremism staff and counter-terror police with thousands of new cases”.
This could increase the risk “that genuinely dangerous individuals are missed – it risks addressing symptoms, not causes”, Policy Exchange said.
The review itself admits many who display such behaviours are not extremists.
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Could the Southport killings have been prevented?
Review ‘downplays Islamism’
Following Rudakubana’s guilty plea last week, Sir Keir said the UK “faces a new threat” and the teenager represented a new kind of threat with “acts of extreme violence perpetrated by loners, misfits, young men in their bedroom, accessing all manner of material online, desperate for notoriety”.
He said he would change the law, if needed, “to recognise this new and dangerous threat” and said a review of “our entire counter-extremism system” would take place “to make sure we have what we need to defeat it”.
The review also “de-centres and downplays Islamism, by far the greatest threat to national security”, Policy Exchange said.
It said environmental extremism and Hindu extremism should be tackled, as well as “left-wing, anarchist and single issue extremism”.
And Policy Exchange said it has “ignored, even repudiated” recommendations by previous Prevent reviewer William Shawcross that the programme is the wrong place for dealing with the psychologically unstable.
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‘Southport must be a line in the sand,’ the PM says
Government focused on Islamism and right-wing ideologies
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The counter-extremism sprint sought to comprehensively assess the challenge facing our country and lay the foundations for a new approach to tackling extremism – so we can stop people being drawn towards hateful ideologies.
“This includes tackling Islamism and extreme right-wing ideologies, which are the most prominent today.
“The findings from the sprint have not been formally agreed by ministers and we are considering a wide range of potential next steps arising from that work.”
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “By extending the definition of extremism so widely, the government risks losing focus on ideologically motivated terrorists who pose the most risk to life.
“In fact, the Shawcross Review of Prevent made clear that counter-extremism and the counterterrorism strategy should be more focused on terrorist ideology, not less.
“Prevent must be equipped to deal with the terrorist threats in our society, and we should not be dialling back efforts to confront this.
“What the government seems to be planning is a backwards step in the interests of the political correctness we know Keir Starmer loves.
“Starmer wants the thought police to stop anyone telling uncomfortable truths that he and his left-wing lawyer friends don’t like.”
Immigration was the first thing on the government’s agenda to kick off the first week back from recess, and they wanted you to know it.
The home secretary gave an update to the House, announcing a shakeup of family reunion rules for asylum seekers, even before some backbenchers had made it back to parliament from their break.
Facing criticism for being on the back foot after a summer of protest outside asylum hotels, they were keen to defend their record and get back on track – but is it too late?
It’s a clear nod to the political void Reform UK has seized on while the prime minister has been on holiday.
Last week, Nigel Farage unveiled his party’s mass deportation policy – though the issue of women and children still seems to be worked out.
But perhaps none of that matters as voters overwhelmingly believe Reform cares about this issue – and as Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, pointed out on Monday, voters have lost confidence in the government somewhat to solve what many see as an immigration crisis on their doorstep.
So it’s clear the strategy has changed from the government.
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‘Substantial reforms are needed now’
Gone are the bold slogans of “smashing the gangs” and instead, detail and policy was given on Monday. It was nothing new, but more substance on what the government has done and where they want to move to. Even controversially, reassessing their relationship with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The biggest update though, was on their one-in-one-out policy agreement with France, which will now set to start returns later this month.
It’s finally hit home for the government that the public want proof not just rhetoric, and they want to know crucially when they will start to see change.
But the fightback, the reset, whatever the government wants to call it, will only make a difference once that finally starts to work.
Police are asking for help with an unsolved case, 52 years after the murder of a schoolboy in Belfast.
Brian McDermott was 10 when he disappeared from Ormeau Park on Sunday 2 September 1973. His remains were recovered from the River Lagan almost a week later.
Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Legacy Investigation Branch have given a timeline of events as part of their appeal.
Brian left his home on Well Street in the lower Woodstock Road area of east Belfast at around 12.30pm and failed to return for his Sunday dinner.
Detectives said he was last seen playing alone in the playground between 1pm and 3pm that afternoon.
His remains were recovered in the water, close to the Belfast Boat Club.
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River Lagan, where the remains of schoolboy Brian McDermott were recovered. Pic: PSNI handout/PA
A PSNI spokesperson said: “We are acutely aware of the pain and suffering that Brian’s family continue to feel, and our thoughts very much remain with the family at this time.
“Despite the passage of time, this murder case has never been closed and I am hopeful that someone may be able to provide information, no matter how small, which may open a new line of inquiry, or add a new dimension to information already available.
“It is also possible that someone who did not volunteer information at the time may be willing to speak with police now. Legacy Investigation Branch Detectives will consider all investigative opportunities as part of the review into Brian’s murder.”
The transfer window was a show of strength in a record-breaking summer across the Premier League.
The totaliser crept over £3bn in spending, with more than half of it flowing among the 20 clubs rather than having a redistributing effect across Europe.
The start of new Premier League TV deals – the biggest individual source of income being from Sky News’ parent company Comcast – provides certainty for the next four years, while rival leagues can struggle to sell rights.
And the feared threat from Saudi Arabia has not materialised. It is an attractive and lucrative destination for some players, but not yet the ultimate destination.
But the kingdom has still influenced this transfer window.
Alexander Isak has joined Liverpool. Pic: Reuters
Let’s start with Newcastle, four years into their ownership by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
Having secured a return to the Champions League, bringing UEFA riches, this was the summer to grow rather than lose talent to rivals.
But the Premier League’s pecking order became clear when Alexander Isak pushed for a move to Liverpool and rejected bids that did not deter his ambitions.
Player power won out.
The 25-year-old striker was able to withdraw himself from the squad, miss the opening three matches of the season, and put out a statement claiming promises had been broken by the Magpies.
Read more: Isak completes £125m Liverpool move
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Will Liverpool’s spend equal success?
Liverpool ‘loading up on talent’
And so he held on until deadline day, biding his time, sitting it out, and standing firm. Newcastle folded, accepting £125m – £20m lower than their apparent valuation.
Breaking the British record fee was Liverpool’s American ownership flexing financial muscle like never before.
The Premier League champions allowed manager Arne Slot to build from a position of strength.
This was the second time they broke the record in this window after bringing in another forward, Florian Wirtz, in a £116m deal.
More than £400m in reinforcements arrived at Anfield in a matter of weeks.
Former Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow told Sky Sports: “Liverpool are making hay while the sun shines, going for it. Really loading up on talent.
“Other clubs should be fearful and respectful of the way [Fenway Sports Group] are running their club.”
Eberechi Eze (centre right), who left Palace for Arsenal this summer, celebrates winning the FA Cup final. Pic: PA
The Isak deal weakened their Champions League rivals from the North East after banking £57m from another club owned by the Public Investment Fund when Darwin Nunez was offloaded to Saudi.
And PIF funded Chelsea’s summer spending spree in less obvious ways.
The Blues did negotiate a £44m package with PIF-backed Al Nassr deal for Joao Felix, recouping the fee paid just a year earlier.
But then there was the £90m prize money collected for winning the new FIFA Club World Cup – a competition bankrolled by PIF subsidiaries.
Where does this leave Newcastle? Still spending around £250m.
Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen. Pic: AP
Players and Liverpool couldn’t get all their way this summer, with Marc Guehi forced to stay at Crystal Palace after the FA Cup winners failed to secure a replacement for the England centre-back.
The late drama was just the latest of the summer transfer window’s twists and turns.
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Both Arsenal and Manchester United also spent more than £200m each. The Gunners spent big in pursuit of a title that’s eluded them since 2004, while the Red Devils are just trying to get back into the Champions League.
It added up to a new record total outlay that comfortably eclipsed the previous Premier League record of £2.46bn from 2023.
The £3bn is more than the rest of Europe combined, showing both where the power is in world football and why the Premier League is the one the world wants to watch.
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