Radicalisation still a threat in UK jails

British authorities have introduced measures to clamp down on extremism in prisons as government admits 'lone-wolf' terrorists remain a threat

Britain's Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma, holds flowers to place them near to the scene of reported multiple stabbings, as he is surrounded by faith leaders, in Reading, Britain, June 22, 2020. REUTERS

A police forensics officer works inside Forbury Gardens park in Reading, west of London, on June 22, 2020, the scene of the June 20 stabbing spree. AFP

Tributes to the murdered school teacher James Furlong are seen outside The Holt School, on June 22, 2020 in Wokingham, England. Getty Images

A suspect held on suspicion of stabbing three people to death in a British park at the weekend was known to the security services, media reported on Monday. AFP

hairi Saadallah, a 25-year-old refugee from Libya, was arrested on Saturday evening suspected of stabbing three people to death in Forbury Gardens in the centre of Reading. Getty Images

Britain's Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma, and Britain's Labour MP for Reading East, Matt Rodda, are seen near the scene of reported multiple stabbings, in Reading, Britain, June 22, 2020. REUTERS

Candles are lit at St Paul's Parish Church in Wokingham, England, for the victims of a multiple fatal stabbing attack, and local teacher James Furlong who was killed Saturday with two other people in Reading town centre, Monday June 22, 2020. PA via AP

A message is shown on flowers near the scene of a fatal multiple stabbing attack in Forbury Gardens, central Reading, England, Monday June 22, 2020. AP Photo

A Police officer places flowers from a woman at the scene of a fatal multiple stabbing attack in Forbury Gardens, central Reading, England, Monday June 22, 2020. AP Photo

A forensic officer uses a swab outside Forbury Gardens, on June 22, 2020 in Wokingham, England. Getty Images

The British government is still trying to get on top of the threat posed by so-called lone-wolf terror attacks and extremists in prison, it has conceded.

Responding to questions in parliament on Tuesday, justice minister Lucy Frazer said the government had trained 22 imams to run deradicalisation programmes in prisons but said there needed to be more places in transitionary premises for inmates returning to society.

She said the government took the threat posed by terrorists “very seriously” and pointed to an approach that included psychological, theological and mental health interventions.

In the past eight months three terrorist attacks in the UK have been blamed on recently released prisoners acting alone.

Following a stabbing in London in February by an extremist who had left detention only the previous month, the government brought in emergency legislation that scrapped the automatic early release of terrorist offenders halfway through their sentence.

“We have 22 trained Imams doing deradicalisation programmes in our prisons. But those aren’t just the measures that we are introducing,” Ms Frazer said in response to a question asking what improvements could be made to prevent attacks by people acting alone.

“We have increased our training for prison and probation officers to deal with terrorism. We’re bringing in new national standards for managing terrorists on licence. We want more counter-terrorism specialist staff and we want more places in approved premises as a transition from prison to the community.

“In addition, counter-terrorism police funding is increased this year by £90 million (Dh414.2m),” she said.

A new bill introduced by the government would see terrorists convicted of serious offences spending at least 14 years in jail and being monitored for up to 25 years after leaving prison.

Alex Cunningham, an MP for the opposition Labour Party and shadow court and sentencing minister, said there had been much discussion about the “inadequate” deradicalisation programmes in jails and asked if the government would undertake a serious review into them.

He also suggested that more work would need to be done on the programmes if those convicted of terror offences were to spend longer in jail.

In response Ms Frazer, the government justice minister, said: “We have increased the number of Imams operating the deradicalisation programmes. We are looked towards internationally by others as to the programmes that we operate. Of course we continually evaluate the programmes we operate within our prisons.”

A recently released report by the Commission for Countering Extremism in Britain found that extremists had exploited the Covid-19 pandemic to spread racist narratives via conspiracy theories.