logo
Society ‘struggling' to respond to link between smartphones and youth extremism

Society ‘struggling' to respond to link between smartphones and youth extremism

In an interview as the 20th anniversary of the July 7 attacks is marked, Jonathan Hall KC said current methods used by extremists to influence potential recruits are 'a million miles' from the tactics used in the run up to 2005.
Suicide bombers Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Hasib Hussain, 18, and Jermaine Lindsay, 19, set off bombs on three Tube trains and a bus, killing 52 people in the single worst terrorist atrocity on British soil.
Ringleader and recruiter Khan appeared to be a pillar of the community, steering local youths away from crime and drugs by organising outdoor activities and helping to set up a gym in a mosque basement, but was in reality a fanatic.
Mr Hall told the PA news agency the wide availability of smartphones has transformed radicalisation since then.
'The principal distinction from the era of 7/7 is the smartphone era,' Mr Hall said.
'That has changed the landscape. It has led to a different model of radicalisation.
'With 7/7 the indications were that Mohammad Sidique Khan was grooming people, there was a youth club, they went and did rafting together.
'Those sorts of outdoorsy, in person, group grooming activities, those feel a million miles away from the online world of radicalisation.
'I'm not aware of any sane person who seeks to argue the current wave of very young people becoming involved in terrorism, or extreme violence where it's not ideological, that that's not related to the internet and to the ready availability of smartphones.
'There's a very live debate about the ethics, the legality and the practicalities of which response is best.
'But we are absolutely grasping at straws and struggling, at the moment, as a society to work out what the correct response is.
'No one in their right minds would allow their children to allow a stranger into their bedroom, but that's what we've done with phones.'
The attacks exposed the deadly threat from homegrown terrorists with 'appalling clarity', Mr Hall said.
'What 7/7 did, is it revealed with appalling clarity that our fellow citizens are willing to kill us.
'That very unsettling insight is as true today as it was back then, except you now have to bring in British citizens who have been inspired by extreme right-wing ideology to join the predominant Islamist threat.
'But that was the real kicker from 7/7. I think it really brought home this idea of the homegrown threat.'
Commander Dominic Murphy said July 7 was 'a seminal moment' for counter-terrorism policing, leading to a series of changes that continued after the five terror attacks in the UK in 2017.
He said that while Islamist groups are still the main threat to the UK, right wing terrorism is a growing problem, and there is concern that younger people are being drawn into extremism.
In 2024, 39 of the 248 people arrested for terrorism offences were aged 17 and under, while children aged 11 to 15 made up the largest proportion of those referred to anti-extremism scheme Prevent (2,729 out of 6,884).
'Islamist remains our main threat. We do see a growing right-wing terrorist problem,' Mr Murphy said.
'We're increasingly seeing younger people involved in that right-wing threat as well, which is deeply concerning for us.
'But of course, we also see people that don't have a clear or fixed ideology.
'We can't say clearly that they're an Islamist terrorist, we can't say clearly that they ascribe to a right-wing ideology.
'Nonetheless, they're consuming large amounts of violent media online, and they might have a mixed or unclear ideology – that means, of course, we still need to be concerned about the threat to the public.
'It's diversified a lot even since 2017 and I think the online environment and the world environment adds a whole new layer of challenge to the threat that we face.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

World's 'most dangerous' country in the world - and it's not one you'd expect
World's 'most dangerous' country in the world - and it's not one you'd expect

Daily Mirror

time28 minutes ago

  • Daily Mirror

World's 'most dangerous' country in the world - and it's not one you'd expect

The Foreign Office advises against all travel to war-torn Yemen - and it's not hard to see why. It is a no-go zone for Brits with no embassy services and no evacuation procedures in place. Yemen has earned the ominous title of the world's most treacherous country in 2025, outstripping even war-ravaged Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya in terms of danger. The UK Foreign Office issues a stark warning for those considering a trip to the country: "Support for British people is severely limited in Yemen. British Embassy services in Sana'a are suspended, and all diplomatic and consular staff have been withdrawn. The UK government cannot help British nationals leaving Yemen. There are no evacuation procedures in place." ‌ According to the World Population Review's analysis, Yemen - which shares borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman - has surpassed Sudan, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Syria to claim the top spot. ‌ Owen Williams, a Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey Analyst at Sibylline Strategic Risk Group, offers insight into the country's precarious situation: "Yemen is often considered one of the most hazardous countries in the world due to the protracted civil war, widespread food shortages, military interventions, and a collapse of public infrastructure." Mr Williams explains that the instability is in part due to the Houthi rebels' insurgency against the internationally recognised government. The group's slogan, the sarkha, is a chilling call to arms: "God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory to Islam." Since ousting the previous government in 2014, the group, which remains unlisted as a terrorist organisation in the UK, has taken control of much of northwest Yemen, including the capital Sana'a. The ongoing clash between the government and insurgents has plunged the nation into a severe humanitarian crisis. Mr Williams pointed out that "Yemen was already in a difficult position before the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023", but the regional tensions have since intensified. He explained: "Following the October 7 attacks, as a member of Iran's Axis of Resistance, the Houthis began to target shipping in the Red Sea with drones and missiles, as well as launching attacks against Israel. "This resulted in a US-Coalition intervention in Yemen, with many airstrikes targeting Houthi facilities and key infrastructure. These reached a peak in May 2025, when the US attacked a migrant detention facility. While the US has agreed a ceasefire with the Houthis, the risk of Israeli airstrikes persists." ‌ The group's maritime assaults, often from small vessels, have caused global shipping firms to divert their routes, leading ships to navigate around South Africa instead. Mr Williams has issued a stark warning to Brits against travelling to Yemen, highlighting that despite "there has likely been reduced media coverage of the situation in Yemen in recent years", Westerners remain highly susceptible to danger and abduction. One of the very few remaining tourist destinations in Yemen is Socotra, an archipelago that is unlike anywhere else. Sat 200 miles off the coast of mainland Yemen, close to the Horn of Africa, it is home to a unique array of plants and wildlife. ‌ UNESCO recognises Socotra Island as a site of universal importance due to its biodiversity, with nearly 40 percent of its plant species being exclusive to the island. The surrounding islands, including Socotra, are also notable for their land and sea bird breeding spots and unique coral reefs, which are home to over 700 species of coastal fish. ‌ While Socotora is covered by the Foreign Office's advice—meaning visitors travelling there do so at their own peril and risk having their insurance invalidated—the archipelago has a very low crime rate and has been little impacted by the 11-year war that continues to rage on the mainland. The main difficulty for those dreaming of visiting is how to get there. Janet Newenham is a professional traveller who has spent years visiting some of the world's most inaccessible places. Since visiting Iraq several years ago, Janet has organised small group trips for women to some of these places. Including, in February, to Socotora. "It's a paradise island off the coast of Yemen. People in the extreme travel community know about it, but a lot of people don't," Janet told the Mirror. "It's hard to get to. There are two flights a week from Abu Dhabi, but you can't book them in a normal way. You have to book them through WhatsApp. It's through Emirates Aviation, and it's a humanitarian charter flight. You have to WhatsApp them and then send a bank transfer. "It was absolutely incredible. I never knew there were places like that in Yemen. It has bright blue water, white sand beaches, and dragon's blood trees. You won't find them anywhere else in the world."

Has Labour abandoned the steel industry?
Has Labour abandoned the steel industry?

Spectator

time32 minutes ago

  • Spectator

Has Labour abandoned the steel industry?

We will no doubt hear lots of familiar excuses if later this week, as seems increasingly likely, the British steel industry faces 50 per cent tariffs on its exports to the United States. There hasn't been enough time. The White House has been too busy, and so has the Prime Minister. The trouble is, none of them make sense. And so when these tariffs kick in, the Labour government, which we might expect to defend a traditional heavy industry, will have abandoned steel to its fate. When the 9 July deadline for the suspension of President Trump's tariffs expires, we can expect chaos in the global trading system. The EU's over-confident and arrogant negotiators have failed to reach a deal, leaving every exporter in the bloc facing huge tariffs from Thursday onwards. Amid all that, it might be easy to miss a small but still significant problem. The suspension of full tariffs on British-made steel will also come to an end, and, without an agreement, the industry will also face huge levies. This could be catastrophic for the industry. 'Every day of delay costs our steelmakers dearly,' argued UK Steel, the trade body for the industry. 'Contracts slip away, investment plans stall and uncertainty freezes business decisions'. It could hardly come at a worse time. The industry has already been hit by a barrage of green levies and targets. It has to face some of the highest industrial electricity prices in the world. The Budget last year imposed higher National Insurance charges on every person it employs. The list goes on and on. British Steel has already been taken under emergency control by the government after its Chinese owners gave up on it, and with 50 per cent tariffs the rest of the industry may give up as well. And yet, despite that, the government has not had the energy or commitment to negotiate an exemption for the UK, even though other exporters will face just 10 per cent tariffs in the US. There is a bigger point than just steel. The UK's industrial base is being wiped out, with almost every week bringing news of yet another closure. Last week it was the Prax Lindsey oil refinery and in the week before, Nippon Electric Glass announced the closure of the UK's largest fibreglass factory. Starmer's Labour government should be defending the interests of the people who worked in these kinds of jobs. Instead, it is complacently allowing the steel industry to be wiped out – and doesn't appear to care much about any other manufacturers either.

July 7 attacks were watershed moment for head of Met's counter-terrorism squad
July 7 attacks were watershed moment for head of Met's counter-terrorism squad

Western Telegraph

timean hour ago

  • Western Telegraph

July 7 attacks were watershed moment for head of Met's counter-terrorism squad

In 2005 Commander Dominic Murphy had been an officer in Hertfordshire for 12 years and had trained as a bomb scene examiner before the attacks on the transport system that killed 52 people and injured hundreds more. When he saw the horror unfolding on the television, he 'did that thing that police officers shouldn't really do' and headed to London before he had been officially deployed. Forensic experts search London's Tavistock Square for evidence, following the bus explosion on July 7 (PA) Mr Murphy told the PA news agency: 'I was an officer who could be called into London or some other part of the country to help SO13 (former Met anti-terrorist branch) if they were responding to a terrorist attack, or conduct searches or support them in some way. 'And I remember sitting in the special branch office, which is our intelligence unit in Hertfordshire, and I was watching this unfold on TV, and I did that thing that police officers shouldn't really do. 'I didn't wait to be deployed. I spoke to my line manager and grabbed a car and all my kit and equipment and drove straight down to London to be here as quickly as I could.' The compassion shown by the officers investigating the bombings and the speed at which they worked inspired him to spend the rest of his career in counter-terrorism. Mr Murphy said: 'I arrived in our forensic management team. 'These were the officers and staff that were leading the response at the scenes to gather the evidence and recover those that had been unfortunately killed in the incident. 'I arrived to something I would describe as a really high pace of activity, the sort of activity you would expect policing to be doing at a terrible incident like this, but of course, this was on a scale and a type of incident we had never seen. 'I was struck by all of those counter-terrorism officers from SO13 that I met, their professionalism, their commitment to finding who was responsible for this attack, their overwhelming compassion for victims… that compassion extended to how they recovered those that were deceased from the attacks. The scene as emergency services attend to the crash at Aldgate Tube station in 2005 (PA) 'I was struck by the end of that first day to see the professionalism and the pace they were working at. 'I never wanted to work anywhere else. 'I really only ever wanted to work with this group of people who I thought were some of the most impressive people I'd ever seen, and just the way that commitment portrayed itself to their service to the public and the victims was overwhelming for me. 'So I had been a Hertfordshire officer for nearly 12 years at that point, but I never really went back to Hertfordshire. 'I stayed here then, and have been here in counter-terrorism for the rest of my career.' He specialised in body recovery, and has been deployed abroad to help investigate several atrocities involving British victims or interests, including the 2015 Tunisian beach attacks as well as tragedies in Algeria, Yemen and Sudan.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store