A) From Whence Cometh The Dangers To Us All? B) Why Do They Largely Go Unpunished?

 

• Islamist Extremism (Primary Threat): As of 2023–2024, approximately 75% of MI5’s counter-terror caseload and 80% of live investigations by counter-terrorism police were linked to Islamist threats. This often involves individuals who are self-radicalised online and plan low-sophistication attacks, such as knife or vehicle attacks.

Key Trends:

• Lone Actors: The majority of threats currently come from individuals radicalised online, acting outside of formal terrorist networks, making them difficult to detect.
• Rising Risk Factors: 2025 reports indicate a high number of referrals to the Prevent programme, with a "no ideology" or "violence-fascinated" category increasing rapidly, as well as a significant rise in far-right referrals.
• Youth Involvement: A small but increasing number of minors are being investigated for engaging with terrorism online. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

• Counter-Terrorism | MI5 - The Security Service

  Terrorist ideologies * Islamist terrorism. Islamist terrorism is the most significant terrorist threat to the UK by volume. Islami...

  Security service MI5
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  Counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST) 2023 (accessible) - GOV.UK

  18 Jul 2023 — Part 1: Terrorism * The impact of terrorism. 10. Since 2018, when CONTEST was last updated, to the publication of this version, ni...

  GOV.UK
• [Report] The Current State of Islamist Terrorism in the UK

  12 Mar 2025 — Introduction * Islamist terrorism has been the primary terrorism threat to the UK for approximately two decades.