The former head of counter-terrorism policing in the UK has branded the government’s proposal to extend the definition of terrorism to encompass atrocities carried out by lone attackers like the Southport killer “a mistake”.
Former Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu warned violent individuals could “revel” in being called terrorists as he also warned against the use of the term “lone wolf” due to the risk of “glorifying” perpetrators.
Sir Keir Starmer announced a review of terror laws to address “extreme violence carried out by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms” after Axel Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty on Monday to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, in July.
The attacks sparked widespread riots across the UK last summer, fuelled by online misinformation that Rudakubana was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat.
Crime journalists have criticised “significant overreach” by the Crown Prosecution Service after police forces involved in the Southport case said they had been advised against sharing more details.
The teenager pleaded guilty to possessing a knife on the date of the attack, production of a biological toxin, ricin, on or before July 29, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
After Sir Keir claimed in a Downing Street statement that this was evidence of a “new threat” – a different kind of terrorism – but experts have pushed back.
Mr Basu, who also served as Met assistant commissioner of specialist operations, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday: “Bad legislation is made in haste in response to shocking incidents, and my view about whether we should be extending the terrorist definition – we need to think very carefully about the unintended consequences, my opinion is it would be a mistake.”
Describing the incident as “one of the most shocking and horrific things any of us have ever seen”, he backed the public inquiry announced by the government but stopped short at a review of terror laws, even though he said an expansion was something he had previously pushed for.
Mr Basu said: “We were looking then, and this was in 2019/2020. We’d already seen a growth of what we were seeing as people with no ideologies, so they’re not terrorists, they’re violent individuals.
“And we’ve always had violent people doing violent things, but they’re using any ideology as an excuse for their violent actions. And we were seeing an increase in that number and they were getting younger – and it would’ve been easier to charge them under counter-terrorism [laws].
“When we asked for it then, I don’t think we were thinking about the consequences of what that might be.”
When asked to explain why he changed his mind on the issue, he said: “One of the main things is, these are violent people often with violent or sociopathic or psychopathic thoughts – if we are going to include a definition of terrorism to include them, some of these people are going to revel in that.
“It took us a long time to ask the media not to use the expression lone wolves, because lone-actor terrorists/self-initiating terrorists, as we tried to change the language, really love that – it glorifies them, and that’s what a lot of them are looking for.”
Mr Basu also called for an urgent increase in resources for counter-terrorism or feared lone attackers like Rudakubana will continue to slip through the net.
The public inquiry into Rudakubana was announced on Monday after it emerged the killer had “contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years”, according to the home secretary, including three referrals to government anti-extremism scheme Prevent due to concerns about his obsession with violence.
Mr Basu described these agencies as “unfunded, untrained, [and] largely staffed by frontline staff who are overwhelmed by demand”, warning: “This will come with a big bill, but that bill has got to be paid if we want to be safe.”
Writing in The Sun, Sir Keir said: “Whatever shortcomings are holding back Britain’s ability to protect its citizens and its children, I will find them I will root them out. No matter who it upsets, I will act.
“Southport must become a line in the sand for Britain.
“There are deep wounds in our society politics now has a responsibility to heal. But that starts by holding up the mirror and facing what we see.”
