Anti-Migrant, Anti-Muslim Extremists Drive UK Terror Threat Level Increase
Por Harriet Williamson — Novara Media
Anti-migrant and anti-Muslim extremists are becoming increasingly likely to attempt terrorist attacks against mosques and asylum seeker accommodation, Britain’s spy chief has warned.
MI5 director general Sir Ken McCallum said cases where anti-immigration and anti-Muslim views had tipped into “terrorist intent” were the “most marked trend” of the past year.
In comments made as part of his annual threat update delivered on Tuesday, McCallum also said the recent upgrade of the UK terrorism level to “severe” (which means an attack is highly likely) was “driven in significant part by extreme rightwing terrorism”.
The MI5 boss noted the case of a teenager who planned to set fire to Inverclyde Muslim Centre in a racially-motivated terror attack, and described the demographics most likely to be drawn into extreme rightwing terrorism as skewing young and “driven by the internet”.
One mosque in Britain is attacked every five days , according to data released in July by the British Muslim Trust, the government’s partner for monitoring anti-Muslim hatred. It had tracked and verified 78 attacks and incidents at Muslim places of worship in the last year.
The UK has seen a spate of protests and violent disorder outside hotels and addresses believed to house asylum seekers since the Southport riots in the summer of 2024.
August saw attacks on addresses believed to house asylum seekers in Thetford, Norfolk, with a senior police officer telling the i Paper that such disorder is becoming harder to predict due to a “growing narrative” that all asylum seekers are a threat.
Last month, anti-migrant protesters targeted the Marriott in Portsmouth, believing migrants were inside. In reality, a visiting Pakistani cricket team was staying at the hotel.
McCallum’s wide-ranging speech on threats to UK national security included a warning about the risks posed by AI’s potential to produce new bioweapons, along with individually tailored propaganda and radicalising material.
He named Russia as “aggressor number one” and the most serious foreign state threat to UK security.
Fonte: Novara Media
