PMQs: Johnson and Starmer commit to tackle online extremism

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The comments come days after Home Secretary Priti Patel said that the terrorism threat level to Members of Parliament was now deemed “substantial” after lawmaker Sir David Amess was stabbed to death at a public meeting in his constituency. A 25-year-old man, Ali Harbi Ali, was arrested at the scene and has been charged with Sir David’s murder. Police are treating it as a possible terrorist attack linked to Islamist extremism.

The Home Office assessment means the direct threat to politicians is the same as the overall national threat level, which means an attack is considered “likely”.

Liam Duffy, advisor at the Counter Extremism Project, has warned the UK is going in “the wrong direction” to understand how to manage the threat due to a string of common misconceptions.

Mr Duffy told Express.co.uk: “One of the biggest misconceptions is that these people are alone, this myth of the lone wolf launching an attack.

“Most of the time they are definitely lone actors, but even in the rare instances that they are radicalised mostly online and self-activated, they still do perceive themselves to be part of a much broader movement.”

He explained that a ‘lone actor’ may be at the centre, but wider analysis reveals an intricate ecosystem that allows that individual to commit acts of terror.

The other members of this ecosystem range from logistical supporters and funders, to apologists and sympathisers.

He added: “These people don’t operate in a vacuum.”

The need to find an effective solution to the problem of violent extremism was brought sharply into view in 2017 when three horrific, separate attacks left dozens dead; Westminster Bridge and Palace (6 deaths), Manchester Arena (23 deaths) and London Bridge (11 deaths).

Since 2017, a total of 31 late-stage terror plots have been foiled, according to the head of MI5.

MI5 Director general Ken McCallum revealed a “growing number” were planned by right-wing terrorists and expressed concern that the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban was likely to have “emboldened” UK terrorists.

Another common misconception is that most radicalisation happens online.

Commenting on the assertion made by British intelligence agencies that lockdown may have bred a new wave of “bedroom radicals”, Mr Duffy said: “We have this idea that radicalisation is something that happens online so it would therefore follow that if people are spending more time online and digesting propaganda, then there are going to be more radicalised people.

“Well, the first assumption – that most radicalisation happens online – is incorrect.

“I can’t speak for people who join fringe groups online and then commit acts of violence like some of the people who have been associated with incel communities online.

“But if we’re talking about Islamist and jihadi attacks then that’s very, very rare – that represents a real minority of cases.”

Mr Duffy suggests a sampling bias is to blame for this misconception and that an over availability of data points skews our understanding of how radicals are formed and can lead to incorrect causational relationships being made.

If the theory about online radicalisation was accurate, one would expect to see a weak or non-existant geographical correlation between radicals.

However, research in France on foreign fighters – individuals who leave their home country to join violent insurgencies abroad – reveals “massive geographical clusters”.

Mr Duffy explained: “You’ve got big cities like Marseille, which have all sorts of social socio-economic problems, and they’re barely affected by the jihadist foreign fighter phenomenon.

“Whereas you’ve got places like Toulouse or even affluent towns like Lunel which are really badly affected which tells you the real-world networks, physical settings, and real-world relationships really do matter.”

Most of the people who left the UK to join ISIS were young adults, but not all of them.

High-profile, young western freedom fighters, such as the Beatles or Shamima Begum, created a perception that it was exclusively young people.

In fact, the Counter Extremism Project recorded entire families, including grandparents, giving up western civilisation in exchange for an ideological cause.

“We really just need to get a better, more accurate diagnosis and then we can start to talk about solutions,” he added.

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