Prevent addresses all forms of terrorism but continues to ensure resources and efforts are allocated on the basis of threat to our national security.
In the UK, the primary domestic terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism.
Islamist Terrorism is the threat or use of violence as a means to establish a strict interpretation of an Islamic society. For some this is a political ideology which visualises, for example, the creating of a global Islamic caliphate based on strict implementation of Sharia law, drawing on political and religious ideas developed in the 20th century by Sayyid Qutb and Abdallah Azzam. Many advocates believe that violence (or ‘jihad’ as they conceive it) is not only a necessary strategic tool to achieve their aims, but an individual’s religious duty.
Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism describes those involved in Extreme Right-Wing activity who use terrorist violence to further their ideology. These ideologies can be broadly characterised as;
- Cultural Nationalism
- White Nationalism
- White Supremacism
Individuals and groups may subscribe to ideological trends and ideas from more than one category. Unlike Islamist terrorist groups, Extreme Right-Wing terrorists are not typically organised into formal groups with leadership hierarchies and territorial ambitions, but informal online communities which facilitate international links.
Prevent also tackles other ideologies and concerns that may pose a terrorist threat. Established terrorist narratives exhibit common themes such as antisemitism, misogyny, anti-establishment, anti-LGBT grievances and religious or ethnic superiority.
Left-Wing, Anarchist and Single-Issue Terrorism currently represents a significantly smaller terrorist threat to the UK than Islamist terrorism or Extreme Right-Wing terrorism and is not currently present in the UK at any significant scale. The majority of related activity in the UK has consisted of lawful protest, and where these have involved violence, it has resulted in offences relating to public order.
